250,000 Vietnam vets could get benefits under new Agent Orange rules - Getting out, military health issues - Navy Times

250,000 Vietnam vets could get benefits under new Agent Orange rules

Sweeping new presumptions about what medical conditions in Vietnam veterans are the result of exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange could lead to benefits for up to 250,000 more veterans.

But the $42.2 billion expansion of disability compensation and medical treatment is raising questions about just how generous the federal government should be.

About 90,000 veterans or survivors could receive retroactive benefits by the end of October, covering an average of almost 12 years of back pay, under the new policy announced Aug. 31 in a Federal Register notice implementing a decision made last fall by Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.

Another 150,000 veterans are expected to apply for benefits that, if approved, would take effect the day of their application.

The new rules add Parkinson’s disease, hairy cell and chronic B cell leukemia, and ischemic heart disease to the list of illnesses presumed to be service-connected in Vietnam veterans.

VA officials expect the average disability ratings to be 100 percent for Vietnam veterans with Parkinson’s disease or the two forms of leukemia, and 60 percent for those with ischemic heart disease.

Disability benefits will not be paid for 60 days — not before Oct. 30 — because the new presumptions represent a major change in policy that requires giving Congress time to react.

The national commander of AmVets, a major veterans service organization, said he hopes Congress goes along. “AmVets now urges Congress to approve VA’s guidelines so that veterans can start to receive the care and benefits they deserve,” Jerry Hotop said.

While VA officials consider it unlikely Congress would block the change, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee will hold a hearing Sept. 23 to discuss the expanded benefits, with two particular concerns being raised: the overall costs of the policy change and the inclusion of ischemic heart disease — a condition faced by many older Americans who never served in Vietnam.

VA officials acknowledge the heart ailment is common among older Americas as a result of high cholesterol, smoking and other factors, raising the possibility that some Vietnam veterans may have this ailment because of post-service factors that have nothing to do with Agent Orange.

But VA defended including the benefit, noting that five separate studies have shown a link between exposure to the herbicide and the heart disease. Because it is impossible to determine the origin of the disease, VA policy errs on the side of veterans, said Bradley Mayes, director of VA’s Boston Regional Office and the former compensation and pension service director who worked on the new Agent Orange rules.

The end result, Mayes said, is that veterans must show only that they have qualifying service and that they have a medical condition associated with exposure to Agent Orange.

Rick Weidman of Vietnam Veterans of America, a group that has been pushing for expanded Agent Orange benefits, says the cost of providing disability compensation and health care for veterans exposed to the herbicide should be considered a cost of war.

Cost is an issue for some people, especially after former Wyoming Republican Sen. Alan Simpson, co-chair of the Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform that is studying ways to reduce federal spending and the national debt, focused on an Associated Press report that shows diabetes is the chief disability claimed by Vietnam veterans, accounting for about $850 million a year in compensation.

Simpson, an Army veteran and former chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, called it an “irony” that “veterans who saved this country are now, in a way, not helping us to save the country in this fiscal mess.”

Those remarks sparked angry reactions from some Vietnam veterans. There is no indication that Simpson is urging the so-called Debt Commission to include any Agent Orange-related recommendations in its report, expected in December, but the panel has been looking at the overall cost of military and veterans’ benefits.

For the purposes of receiving disability benefits and health care, veterans who served in the Republic of Vietnam, including its inland waterways, between January 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975, are presumed to have been exposed to herbicides, so certain medical conditions present in these veterans are presumed to be the result of military service. Conditions added to this list Aug. 31:

• Hairy Cell/B Cell Leukemia: A cancer affecting white blood cells.

• Ischemic Heart Disease: A disease characterized by a reduced supply of blood to the heart that leads to chest pain.

• Parkinson’s Disease: A motor system condition with symptoms that include a trembling of the hands, imbalance, and loss of facial expression.

Other conditions

• Acute and Subacute Peripheral Neuropathy: A nervous system condition that causes numbness, tingling, and motor weakness.

• AL Amyloidosis: A rare disease caused when an abnormal protein, amyloid, enters tissues or organs.

• Chloracne (or Similar Acneform Disease): A skin condition that occurs soon after exposure to chemicals and looks like common forms of acne seen in teenagers.

• Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: A type of cancer which affects white blood cells.

• Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2): A disease characterized by high blood sugar levels resulting from the body’s inability to respond properly to the hormone insulin.

• Hodgkin’s Disease: A malignant lymphoma (cancer) characterized by progressive enlargement of the lymph nodes, liver and spleen, and by progressive anemia.

• Multiple Myeloma: A disorder which causes an overproduction of certain proteins from white blood cells.

• Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma: A group of cancers that affect the lymph glands and other lymphatic tissue.

• Porphyria Cutanea Tarda: A disorder characterized by liver dysfunction and by thinning and blistering of the skin in sun-exposed areas

• Prostate Cancer: Cancer of the prostate; one of the most common cancers among men.

• Respiratory Cancers: Cancers of the lung, larynx, trachea, and bronchus.

• Soft Tissue Sarcoma (other than Osteosarcoma, Chondrosarcoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma, or Mesothelioma): A group of different types of cancers in body tissues such as muscle, fat, blood and lymph vessels, and connective tissues.