(U.S. Senate) – Following sustained oversight efforts from Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) to ensure the PACT Act is being implemented the way Congress intended and veterans deserve, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced yesterday it is moving to update outdated benefits regulations for toxic-exposed veterans with constrictive bronchiolitis—a service-connected conditions added as VA presumptive under Tester’s PACT Act.

Tester and Gillibrand called on VA Secretary McDonough in April to expedite its regulations updates for constrictive bronchiolitis to ensure these toxic-exposed veterans could receive the health care and benefits they earned.

“Toxic-exposed veterans have waited decades to receive the benefits and health care the PACT Act provides, and it’s critical VA is implementing the law the way veterans need and deserve,” said Chairman Tester. “That means fixing outdated processes standing in the way of veterans and their newly-expanded benefits. I’m glad to see the Department answering my call to do this for veterans with constrictive bronchiolitis, and I’ll keep holding VA accountable to roll out this law the way Congress intended.”

“The PACT Act extended access to health benefits to up to 3.5 million veterans that may have been exposed to burn pits,” said Senator Gillibrand. “However, the work doesn’t stop with passage—we must continue to monitor and improve its implementation. Ensuring that veterans with constrictive bronchiolitis get the benefits they’ve earned is of the utmost importance. I’m grateful to the VA for making this change and I will continue to work to ensure that all veterans get access to the benefits they’ve earned.”

Following the Senators’ call, VA will update its VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD) regulations for toxic-exposed veterans with constrictive bronchiolitis and add additional criteria to evaluate these veterans during their disability rating examinations. These actions will make it easier for veterans to receive an accurate disability rating for their service-connected constrictive bronchiolitis.

In April, Tester and Gillibrand led a group of their colleagues in a letter pressing VA Secretary Denis McDonough to expedite VASRD regulation updates for constrictive bronchiolitis. The letter followed reporting that VA’s current outdated regulations for rating constrictive bronchiolitis was leading to toxic-exposed veterans needlessly being denied their earned expanded benefits the PACT Act provided.

During the VA disability claims process, the VASRD assigns a four-digit diagnostic code and a disability rating that determine the monthly disability compensation a veteran will receive for their service-connected conditions. VA lacked a diagnostic code specifically for constrictive bronchiolitis, so it used the code for similar conditions when rating constrictive bronchiolitis claims. Using other codes does not account for the uniqueness of constrictive bronchiolitis and results in veterans receiving disability ratings that are not aligned with the severity of their PACT Act conditions.

Named after Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson who died in 2020 from toxic exposure as a result of his military service, the PACT Act provides health care for Post-9/11 combat veterans, creates a framework for the establishment of future presumptions of service connection related to toxic exposure, expands VA’s list of health conditions presumed to be caused by toxic exposures, which opens the door to additional benefits for veterans, and improves resources to support claims processing.