The Department of Veterans Affairs has extended the time
limit for Gulf War veterans to claim presumptive disability for certain chronic
illnesses related to their military service.
The illnesses, commonly referred to as “Gulf War Syndrome,”
are considered “presumptive” by the VA, meaning veterans claiming a disability
related to them are not required to prove they were caused by military service.
While there is no time limit for claiming disability
benefits from the VA in normal circumstances, some presumptive conditions do
come with time restrictions.
According to the Disabled Veterans Of America (DAV) Gulf War
Syndrome affects approximately 200,000 veterans of the 650,000 service members
who served in operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
To qualify as disabling, a covered illness must have caused
illness or symptoms in the veteran for at least six months and:
• Occurred during service in the
Southwest Asia theater of military operations from Aug. 2, 1990, to the
present. This also includes Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-2010) and Operation
New Dawn (2010-2011), or;.
• Been diagnosed as at least 10%
disabling by the VA after service.
Originally the VA was scheduled to stop awarding benefits to
new Gulf War veterans with a related disability diagnosis that was given after
Dec. 31, 2021. However, the VA has extended that cutoff date to Dec. 31, 2026.
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