Agent Orange benefits could expand Tuesday - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Agent Orange benefits could expand Tuesday

Final rules allowing more than 250,000 Vietnam veterans who qualify for Agent Orange-related benefits could take effect as early as Tuesday.

With the change, three new medical conditions — hairy cell leukemia, Parkinson’s disease and ischemic heart disease — will be added to the list of disabilities presumed to have a connection to exposure to Agent Orange, the defoliant widely used during the Vietnam War.

Congress has set aside $13.4 billion to cover the first year of claims. The total cost of expanding the list of conditions presumed to be connected is estimated to be $42.2 billion over 10 years.

Veterans Affairs Department officials are gearing up for an anticipated tidal wave of new applications, expected to temporarily result in an even larger backlog of pending disability claims.

One of the new conditions — ischemic heart disease — is controversial because it widely affects older Americans, and has been linked to smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and aging. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., a Vietnam veteran, chairman of the Senate armed services subcommittee on personnel and a member of the Senate veterans’ affairs committee, has questioned whether it is possible to know if Vietnam veterans with this form of heart disease have an Agent Orange-related condition or have other risk factors.