A Message to Veterans from Senator Bob Menendez
Friday, August 11, 2023
Good afternoon, |
NEWS, SPORTS, COMMENTARY, POLITICS for Gloucester City and the Surrounding Areas of South Jersey and Philadelphia Good afternoon,
A Message to Veterans from Senator Bob Menendez
Friday, August 11, 2023
I wanted to share an update my office received from the VA regarding an extension in the deadline to file a claim or file an intent to file a claim to receive PACT Act benefits with backdated pay for the last year.
The VA has announced that eligible veterans and survivors who apply for PACT Act benefits by 11:59 P.M. on Monday, August 14, 2023 will be able to receive their benefits backdated to the date President Joe Biden signed the PACT Act into law, which was August 10, 2022.
The Sergeant First Class Health Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act expands essential VA benefits to cover more than 3.5 million toxic-exposed veterans and includes a provision I authored to improve benefits and care for veterans who served in the Gulf War and other wars in the region.
Due to technical difficulties with the VA.gov/PACT website in recent days, the VA made the decision to extend their deadline to file until 11:59pm on Monday, August 14, 2023. The VA has contacted veterans and survivors that have received error messages to ensure that no one will miss out on a single day of benefits due to this issue. All constituents are protected under the authority in 38 C.F.R. 3.1(r), the Under Secretary for Benefits may extend a deadline.
The VA suggests you take advantage of this extension and file now if you have not already. Veterans and survivors may still file claims after the deadline, but will be unable to receive the back pay they would have previously been entitled to. If you have received one of the error messages on the VA.gov/PACTwebsite, do not worry, the VA has logged your intent to file and saved your effective date for benefits.
Please contact the VA or my Senate office if you have any questions. To contact my North Jersey office call (973) 645-3030 and to contact my South Jersey office call (856) 757-5353. Thank you so much.Comments