VA Disability Benefits Update:
Two Billion Dollars Earmarked for Camp Lejeune Veterans
In one of their final acts, the Obama administration agreed to provide disability benefits totaling more than $2 billion to Veterans who have been exposed to contaminated drinking water while assigned to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
The cash payouts from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) begin in March, and may supplement VA health care already being provided to eligible Veterans who were stationed at Camp Lejeune.
In order to be eligible for these benefits Veterans must have been stationed at Camp Lejeune for at least 30 days between August 1, 1953 and December 31, 1987. The 30 day requirement is cumulative, meaning the 30 day period does not have to be from 30 consecutive days on the base. The VA estimates that as many as 900,000 service members were potentially exposed to the contaminated water.
The new rule covers active duty, Reserve and National Guard members who developed at least one of the following diseases:
•- Adult Leukemia
•- Aplastic Anemia
•- Bladder Cancer
•- Kidney Cancer
•- Liver Cancer
•- Multiple Myeloma
•- Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
•- Parkinson’s Disease
Affected Veterans who were stationed at Camp Lejeune may now submit applications for benefits. Roughly 1,400 disability claims related to contamination at Camp Lejeune are already pending, and will be reviewed immediately, according to the VA.
If you are a Veteran who was stationed at Camp Lejeune and have questions about how this new legislation can affect your claim, please contact the experienced Veterans’ disability attorneys at Gardberg & Kemmerly, P.C. today for a free case evaluation. Gardberg & Kemmerly serves Veterans across the United States from their home office in Mobile, Alabama.