VA Expands Benefits To Agent Orange Victims

Vietnam veterans exposed to the herbicide agent orange are now eligible to receive service-related compensation for more illnesses, according to a rule published by the Department of Veterans Affairs on Aug. 31. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki has added three illnesses to the list of health problems that VA assumes are related to agent orange exposure. They are Parkinson’s disease, ischemic heart disease, and chronic B-cell leukemia. “I determined that the evidence provided was sufficient to award presumption of service connections for these three additional diseases,” Shinseki said in a statement. Veterans who have a presumed illness do not have to prove an association with the illness to their military service. The evidence Shinseki referred to is in the 2008 update on agent orange-related illnesses from the Institute of Medicine. The added medical coverage could cost $13.6 billion during the first year of payments, VA estimates, and more than $42 billion additional over the next 10 years.