The
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that it will begin covering
out-of-pocket health care expenses for Marine dependents who fell victim to
cancer and other illnesses from toxic water at Camp Lejeune, NC.
The
relief is long-overdue, as victims were promised coverage for their health care
costs two years ago when Congress passed the landmark Honoring America’s
Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act. Not to mention, the toxic
water problem stems all the way back to the mid-1950s.
The
2012 law provided health care for Marines and family members who had lived on
the base from 1957 to 1987 and who suffered from any of 15 illnesses named in
the law. These included cancer related to the lungs, bladder, breasts, kidneys
and esophagus, as well leukemia and problems involving female infertility.
Some
750,000 people were exposed to polluted drinking water, which contained harmful
chemicals from spills, a dump site on the base, leaking underground storage
tanks on base and an off-base dry cleaner.
With
the 2012 law, the VA immediately offered full care for veterans who had been
stationed at Camp Lejeune, but it also established a waiting period for their
dependents who suffered from covered illnesses to be reimbursed.
The
most recent announcement from the VA means they will begin reimbursing family
members later this year for health care costs incurred since March 26, 2013 –
the date which Congress appropriated the funding.
The
VA also planned to release a document about health care services to veterans
who were on active duty at the base for at least 30 days in the three-decade
period.
The
news site McClatchy spoke with two individuals who were affected by the toxic
water at Camp Lejeune. Retired Marine
Jerry Ensminger’s 9 year old daughter, Janey, died of leukemia in 1985, and
Mike Partain, who was born at the base, has suffered from male breast cancer.
The
two led the long fight to get the 2012 law passed, and both said they were
dismayed by the delay in individuals receiving this financial relief.
“As
far as I’m concerned, so many people have already died. They just keep dragging
this thing out,” Ensminger said.
Partain
said “institutional apathy and incompetence” were the reasons it took two years
to write and approve the regulations for how the law would be administered.
For
now, at least, the victims of Camp Lejeune can celebrate a step in the right
direction.
Read more on this
story on McClatchy DC:
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