TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Dozens of Veterans ventured out to the Tallahassee Antique Car Museum on Wednesday night for the first in a series of town hall meetings to be held across the state.
The focus of the event was to share the latest information surrounding VA services, including benefits and support, as well as details on the new PACT Act.
“Recently, the PACT Act got approved and that expanded to a bunch of presumptive conditions,” said Jeffrey Obos, the public information administrator with the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs. “Various cancers and, additionally, one of the major ones, is hypertension. Vietnam Veterans have hypertension claims due to the toxic exposures in the Vietnam area.”
The PACT Act also expanded to include more areas of service and some naval ships, Obos told WCTV reporter Katie Kaplan.
The free event was hosted by Vietnam Veterans of America Big Bend Chapter #96, the Florida Dept. of Veterans Affairs, and the Florida Veterans Foundation. It included presentations by advocates and certified Veterans claims officers.
According to Obos, the largest demographic of Veterans in Florida are Vietnam, but they access their earned benefits the least.
“They’ve earned this. It’s not an entitlement- it’s what they earned,” he said. “We want to show them how to get it and how it could benefit them and their families.”
“One of our big focuses now is on the children and grandchildren,” said Michael Bousher, the chair of the Florida Veterans Council. “We’ve noticed some of our children and grandchildren are coming down with diseases that are not really related to family history and things like that.”
Bousher said one of those conditions is Spina Bifida and that some Veterans are able to file a related claim.
Ten more similar town hall meetings are expected to be held across Florida. For any local Veteran who missed this meeting, they are encouraged to visit with a qualified Veteran’s claims officer. Every American Legion has one, said Obos.
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