 Washington DC and I'm here with Associate National Service Director Matthew John. Today we're going to talk about PACDAC claims. Last August, thanks to the groundbreaking advocacy efforts of DAV, the honoring our PACDAC was signed into law. Among its many impactful provisions, the PACDAC reduced bureaucratic obstacles for an estimated 3.5 million veterans who seek VA benefits due to burn pit exposures during the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other hostile locations. The law added presumptive conditions related to burn pit exposure, meaning veterans who served in overseas locations with active burn pits no longer have to prove their exposure or establish direct service connection if diagnosed with elements listed in the law that are known to cause such conditions. Thank you for joining me, Matt. Yeah, thanks, Kevin. Thank you for having me. Let's first start off by letting folks know when they need to file to obtain the earliest possible effective date for benefits. Yeah, great questions. So the PACDAC was signed into law last year on August 10th. What it did is it expanded the VA health care and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits, agent orange, and other toxic substances. You can file at any time. There's no time restraint, but to obtain the earliest possible effective date for benefits, you'll want to file your PACDAC claim or intent to file by August 9th of this year, as you may be entitled to receive benefits as early as August 10th of last year. So don't wait. Apply today. Thanks, Matt. That's great information for our veterans to know. What is a presumptive condition and what does it mean when a veteran is trying to file a VA disability claim? Yeah, so for many health conditions related to service, veterans need to prove that their service caused their condition. But for some conditions, the VA automatically assumes or presumes that their service caused their condition. And that's what the VA calls a presumptive condition. So an example would be if you're exposed to burn pits and now have a diagnosis of asthma, chronic rhinitis, sinusitis, or COPD, just to name a couple, you could potentially receive benefits from the VA on a presumptive basis under the PACDAC. Another example would be if you're exposed to agent orange and now have a diagnosis of high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, you could potentially receive benefits from the VA on a presumptive basis under the PACDAC as well. Great. Thanks for letting us know more about presumptive conditions and some examples of what those might be for veterans listening in today. So now can you let us know how veterans and their families can find out more about DAV information seminars or how they can contact their local service office? Yeah, no, that's definitely important. So information seminars are held to educate veterans and their families on specific veterans' benefits and services. These free seminars are run by DAV's highly trained national service officers and are held around the country. So NSOs are experts on veterans' benefits and are able to provide the best counseling and claims filing assistance that you and your family can get. These services are free of charge and veterans do not need to be a DAV member to take advantage of the service. And the best way to contact your local DAV service office is through the NSO locator. And our web address is benefitsquestions.org, they'll be in the chat. Or you can go to our main page on DAV.org and click the link, find a DAV location. It's at the top of our homepage. Then it will prompt you to enter your zip code to find the local office nearest you. And then from there, you can actually send an email contact request or it provides the number so you can reach out to that specific office for any claims or VA related benefit questions you may have. Also I'd just like to state that DAV remains committed to fighting for veterans of all eras to include those who are now honored for their heroism through the expansion of veterans disability benefits related to toxic environmental exposures. Great, thanks for letting everybody know of the different ways they can get in touch with DAV either through information seminars or contacting their local service office so they can file these claims before the August 9th deadline. To reiterate, you can file a claim for related to PACT Act at any time, but if you want to get the earliest effective date possible, you know, get them filed in by August 9th. And like Matt said, you know, you can check out the information seminar schedule with a link available in the comments or use our service office locator on our website at benefitsquestions.org. Appreciate your time today, Matt. And thank you for the information that you provided and hope everybody has a great day. Yeah, thank you, Kevin. Take care all.