Conditions could mean more disability pay for Vietnam vets

* By Katie Nowak Troy Record *

ALBANY — Vietnam veterans now have more opportunities to qualify for disability pay, and local agencies want to help them.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced earlier this year that a new set of diseases would be added to the list of presumptive conditions for those exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam.

Labeling an illness “presumptive” means that vets who served in Vietnam and have one of these conditions do not have to prove its association with their service, speeding up and simplifying the application for and processing of benefits.

Now covered are those who have B-cell leukemias, such as hairy cell leukemia, Parkinson’s disease and ischemic heart disease. These conditions bring the total number of presumptive conditions to 14.

Bob Reiter, director of veterans services for Rensselaer County, called the change “big,” and said that since the list has been updated, over 60 percent of his caseload has been Vietnam vets applying for benefits for the first time. He also said he’s had more than 100 cases of widows seeking back claims on behalf of their deceased spouses who suffered from the newly listed diseases.

These changes can also help those who have had their claims denied before and may be eligible now, he said.

“I encourage anyone who is a Vietnam veteran or the widow of a Vietnam veteran to contact our office as soon as possible,” Reiter said.

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