ACES Act Orders Cancer Study for Military Aircrew, Extends Pension Limit by One Month

The ACES Act is a new piece of legislation that does two main things: First, it directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to get a comprehensive study rolling on cancer rates among military members who served as active duty aircrew. Second, it tweaks an existing law to extend a limitation on certain veteran pension payments by one month, from November 30, 2031, to December 31, 2031.

Cleared for Takeoff: What's This Cancer Study All About?

The core of this bill, outlined in SEC. 2, is about understanding potential health risks for a specific group of veterans. Within 30 days of the Act becoming law, the VA Secretary needs to start talks with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a study. They've got 60 days from starting those talks to finalize the agreement. If they miss that deadline, the Secretary has to explain why to Congress and keep them updated every two months.

So, who's covered? The bill defines a "covered individual" as anyone who served as active duty aircrew in the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps on fixed-wing aircraft. This includes pilots, navigators, weapons systems operators, aircraft system operators, or any crew member who regularly flew. The study itself will dig into a few key areas: identifying chemical or other exposures linked to these military jobs, reviewing existing research on links between these exposures and cancer (specifically brain, colon, kidney, lung, melanoma, lymphoma, pancreatic, prostate, testicular, thyroid, and bladder cancers, plus any others the VA Secretary deems relevant), and figuring out the actual cancer prevalence and death rates among these aircrew members. They'll be using data from the VA, Department of Defense, the National Death Index, and a previous study authorized by section 750 of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. The goal is to get a clearer picture of what these service members might have faced and what the health outcomes have been.

The Fine Print on Pensions: A One-Month Shift

The second part of the ACES Act, found in SEC. 3, makes a small but specific change to current law regarding veteran pensions. It amends section 5503(d)(7) of title 38, United States Code, by changing a single date. This particular section of law deals with limitations on pension payments for veterans who are in nursing homes and whose care is covered by Medicaid; currently, for a veteran with no spouse or child in this situation, their pension is limited to $90 per month. This limitation was set to expire on November 30, 2031. The ACES Act pushes that expiration date out by one month, to December 31, 2031.

What does this mean in practical terms? For veterans affected by this specific pension limitation, it means the $90 per month cap will continue for an additional month. It's a minor extension, but it directly impacts the pension amount these individuals will receive during that extended period.