TROY — U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown’s (D-OH) staff recently hosted a roundtable at the Miami Valley Veterans Museum to discuss health and disability care for veterans who have been harmed by toxic exposure while serving in the military. Veterans are now eligible for expanded care due to Brown’s bipartisan Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022. Brown has held 37 roundtables and events around Ohio to help raise awareness and help veterans access this care. Veterans from Miami County met with Anthony Eliopoulos, an outreach staffer in Brown’s office who specializes in veterans’ affairs and holds the rank of Captain in the U.S. Army National Guard.
“This law is the most comprehensive expansion of health care for veterans who faced toxic exposure in our country’s history,” said Brown. “We’re working to get the word out to veterans across Ohio. If you were exposed to toxins while serving our country, you deserve the benefits you earned. Period. No exceptions.”
The legislation is named after Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson, a Central Ohio veteran who passed away in 2020 at age 39 from lung cancer after exposure to burn pits during a one-year deployment in Iraq in 2006.
“We held a round table discussion a few years ago and it benefited our county veterans to be able to have a say so to Senator Brown who is a represented official of the U. S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs. In today’s culture it seems the issues of our society are being overshadowed by the politics, so it my pleasure to work with Senator Brown’s team, regardless of party, to host another roundtable discussion,” said Selena Loyd, Executive Director of the Miami County Veterans Service Office.
The PACT Act is the result of a years-long fight by Brown, veterans and advocates to secure access to Department of Veterans Affairs health care and disability care for veterans who were exposed to toxins. He now is working with Ohio veterans, their families and advocates to bring additional attention to provisions in the PACT Act and urges all Ohio veterans and family members to visit www.va.gov/pact to find out more about how to claim care.
Ohio veterans who would like more information on available resources can reach out to the resources below.
Miami County Veterans Office: (937) 440-8126
Veterans Crisis Line 988 – Press 1 or Text 838255
