Senator’s bipartisan legislation expands access to VA health care for every combat veteran who served after November 1998 with a discharge after September 11, 2001
WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema partnered with Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Ranking Member Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) to introduce the Health Care For Burn Pit Veterans Act – bipartisan legislation expanding VA health care eligibility for veterans exposed to toxic substances.
“Arizona veterans exposed to harmful toxic substances have earned and deserve access to VA health care. Congress needs to deliver its promise to our veterans and pass this bipartisan legislation into law,” said Sinema, a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
The bipartisan Health Care For Burn Pit Veterans Act expands VA health care eligibility by increasing the period of eligibility for VA health care for post-9/11 combat veterans from five to 10 years after being discharged. The bipartisan legislation additionally creates a one-year open enrollment period for post-9/11 combat veterans who did not enroll during their initial five years after being discharged.
At least 1 million of the 3.5 million post-9/11 combat veterans potentially exposed to toxic substances are unable to access VA care – Sinema’s legislation would correct this harm.