The following text came in today from HQMC, Office of the Commandant:
Dear Sir or Madam:
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) finalized a new rule on 13 January 2017 to consider eight diseases as presumptive for service connection. This presumptive service connection provides VA disability benefits to veterans who have one of eight diseases and served for no less than 30 days (consecutive or nonconsecutive) on permanent or temporary duty at Camp Lejeune between 1 August 1953 and 31 December 1987. The eight diseases covered under the new rule are: adult leukemia; aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes; bladder cancer; kidney cancer; liver cancer; multiple myeloma; non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma; and Parkinson’s disease.
The rule will become effective after a 60-day Congressional review. Following the Congressional review period, the Marine Corps will mail registrants pertinent information and updates about the VA’s new rule. The rule will be effective 14 March 2017.
Congress granted the VA the authority to prescribe all rules and regulations presumptively connecting a disease to service. We appreciate efforts by the VA and Congress to support our Marines and their families.
To contact the Department of Veterans Affairs to learn more about health care benefits, please visit http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/camp-lejeune/, or call (877) 222-8387 (Healthcare), or (800) 827-1000 (Benefits).
The health and welfare of our Marines, Sailors, their families and our civilian workers are top priorities for the Marine Corps. We continue to work diligently to identify and notify individuals who may have been exposed to the chemicals in drinking water at Camp Lejeune. For more information about these efforts, or to update your contact information, please see: http://www.marines.mil/clwater/ or contact the Camp Lejeune Historic Drinking Water Call Center at (877) 261-9782, or e-mail clwater@usmc.mil. Please share this information with anyone that may have been at Camp Lejeune between the dates noted and encourage them to register with us.
Sincerely,
The Camp Lejeune Historic Drinking Water Program