VA COMPENSATES MORE VETERANS EXPOSED TO RADIATION

Edward G. Galian, Department Adjutant

Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) Anthony J. Principi announced the addition of five new cancers to the list of diseases presumed to be connected to the exposure of veterans to radiation during their military service. Veterans diagnosed with cancer of the bone, brain, colon, lung or ovary will have an easier time establishing entitlement to compensation for their illnesses beginning March 26, 2002.

"These veterans accepted the risks of duty and have borne the burden of their illnesses in service to our nation. They should not have to bear an additional and unequal burden to prove they deserve the benefits they've so rightfully earned. The new rules will not cure their cancers, but they will ease the burden of proof required to receive appropriate compensation for their disabilities," Principi said.

The new rules apply to those veterans who participated in "radiation-risk activities" while on active duty, during active duty for training or inactive duty training as a member of a reserve component.

The definition of radiation-risk activities has also been expanded to include service at Amchitka Island, Alaska, prior to January 1, 1974, if a veteran was exposed while performing duties related to certain underground nuclear tests. The new definition also includes service at gaseous diffusion plants located in Paducah, Ky., Portsmouth, Ohio and an area known as K25 at Oak Ridge, Tenn. The previous definition was limited to service members who took part in the occupation of Hiroshima or Nagasaki or onsite at atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, or American POWs interred in Japan during World War II. People in these groups are frequently called "atomic veterans."

In 1988, Congress established a presumption of service connection for 13 cancers in veterans exposed to "ionizing radiation," with later changes bringing the number to 16.

Under current statutes, the following diseases are presumed to be service connected if the veteran participated in a radiation-risk activity: leukemia (other than chronic lymphocytic leukemia), cancer of the thyroid, breast, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, pancreas, gall bladder, bile ducts, salivary gland, or urinary tract, multiple myeloma, lymphomas (except Hodgkin's disease), primary cancer of the liver (except if cirrhosis or hepatitis B is indicated) or bronchiolo-alveolar carcinoma.

VA's changes ensure equity between veterans and federal civilians who may be entitled to compensation for these cancers caused by radiation under comparable federal laws such as the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) of 1990, as amended in 2000.

Veterans or their survivors can file claims for compensation by contacting a VA regional office at 1-800-827-1000 or visiting VA's Website at www.va.gov.

Law Increases Veterans' Burial Benefits

Under a new law, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will increase reimbursement for funeral expenses and cemetery plots for service-disabled veterans and provide government markers for veterans' graves even if families already have installed private markers.

"The modest increases in payments to veterans' families, and the additional monuments to our heroes' service, are steps toward better acknowledging this nation's appreciation of its veterans," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi.

The Veterans Education and Benefits Expansion Act of 2001 increases the burial and funeral expense allowance for veterans who die as a result of a service-connected disability from $1,500 to $2,000 and the cemetery plot allowance, for certain other disabled veterans, from $150 to $300.

The law also directs VA to honor requests for government markers for veterans buried in private cemeteries even if their graves have headstones or markers furnished at private expense. Previous law prevented VA from providing markers in that situation. These increases are among many provisions of Public Law 107-103 that expand other veterans' benefits.

About 9,800 families receive funeral expense reimbursement for service-connected deaths each year. The $500 increase in the funeral reimbursement, the first since 1988, is expected to increase the government's cost by about $5 million a year. This change applies to deaths on or after Sept. 11, 2001.

About 90,000 families become eligible for the plot allowance annually. The cost of increasing the amount, which had been $150 since 1973, will be about $13 million a year. The higher allowance will be paid for deaths on or after Dec. 1, 2001.

The plot allowance is paid when a veteran is buried in a non-government cemetery. Also, the veteran must meet one of the following three criteria: The veteran was eligible to receive VA disability compensation or a VA pension, was discharged from military service due to disability or died in a VA hospital.

In the past, people who submitted VA applications to receive a government marker had to certify that the veteran's grave was unmarked. Some families complained of unfairness because they could not obtain the government's free marker to commemorate the veteran's service if they had purchased a marker.

Under the new law, the applicant must certify that the marker will be placed only in a cemetery. VA will send the marker only to a designated cemetery.

The new provision for markers applies to veterans' deaths on or after Dec. 27, 2001. By Feb. 1, 2006, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs will report to Congress on how much this benefit is being used and recommend whether or not to continue it.

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