VA Officials Process First Claims for New Agent Orange Presumptives

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"With new technology and ongoing improvements, we are quickly removing roadblocks to processing benefits," Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki said. "We are also conducting significant outreach to Vietnam veterans to encourage them to submit their completed application for this long-awaited benefit."

VA officials published a final regulation on Aug. 31 that makes veterans who served in the Republic of Vietnam and who have been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, ischemic heart disease or a B-cell, also known as hairy-cell, leukemia eligible for health care and disability compensation benefits. With the expiration on Oct. 30 of the required 60-day congressional review, VA representatives now are able to process these claims.

Vietnam veterans covered under the new policy are encouraged to file their claims through a new VA Web portal at www.fasttrack.va.gov. Vietnam veterans are the first users of this convenient automated claims processing system.

If treated for these diseases outside of VA's health system, it is important for Veterans to gather medical evidence from their non-VA physicians. VA officials have made it easy for physicians to supply the clinical findings needed to approve the claim through the new Web portal. These medical forms are also available at www.vba.va.gov/disabilityexams.

The portal guides veterans through Web-based menus to capture information and medical evidence required for faster claims decisions. While the new system currently is limited to these three disabilities, usage will expand soon to include claims for other conditions.

VA statisticians have begun collecting data that recaps the progress in processing claims for new Agent Orange benefits at www.vba.va.gov/VBA/agentorange/reportcard/index.html