HOW STATE OF THE UNION AIRS TONIGHT AT 9<00 P.M., EST, CREDIT CARD LATE FEES CAPPED AT $8.00, PACT ACT.... ... (1238 hits)
For Immediate Release From The White House!
The Biden administration announced a rule Tuesday to cap all credit card late fees at $8, or about one-quarter of the average late fee of $32. It's the latest effort from the White House to attack what it calls "junk fees," or excessive fees that can push up the end price of products.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new regulations will set a ceiling of $8 for most credit card late fees, or require banks to show why they should charge more than $8 for such a fee. The effort will save Americans up to $10 billion a year, the agency estimates.
The push comes a year after President Joe Biden vowed to ban junk fees in his 2023 State of the Union address, calling them "unfair." Junk fees generate big money for businesses, ranging from airlines to financial services firms, with consumers paying at $90 billion annually in excessive charges, the White House said on Tuesday.
"In credit cards, like so many corners of the economy today, consumers are beset by junk fees and forced to navigate a market dominated by relatively few, powerful players who control the market," said Rohit Chopra, director of the CFPB, in a statement.
President Joe Biden planned to highlight the proposal along with other efforts to reduce costs to Americans at a meeting of his competition council on Tuesday.
The PACT Act is a law that expands VA health care and benefits for Veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances. This law helps us provide generations of Veterans—and their survivors—with the care and benefits they’ve earned and deserve. And starting March 5, 2024, we’re expanding VA health care to millions of Veterans—years earlier than called for by the PACT Act.
This page will help answer your questions about what the PACT Act means for you or your loved ones. You can also call us at 800-698-2411 (TTY: 711). And you can file a claim for PACT Act-related disability compensation or apply for VA health care now.
File a disability claim online
Apply for VA health care
What’s the PACT Act and how will it affect my VA benefits and care?
What does it mean to have a presumptive condition for toxic exposure? Am I eligible for VA health care under the PACT Act?
Gulf War era and post-9/11 Veteran eligibility
Vietnam era Veteran eligibility
Getting benefits
Toxic exposure screenings
Information for survivors
What’s the PACT Act and how will it affect my VA benefits and care?
The PACT Act is perhaps the largest health care and benefit expansion in VA history. The full name of the law is The Sergeant First Class (SFC) Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act.
The PACT Act will bring these changes:
Expands and extends eligibility for VA health care for Veterans with toxic exposures and Veterans of the Vietnam, Gulf War, and post-9/11 eras
Adds 20+ more presumptive conditions for burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic exposures
Adds more presumptive-exposure locations for Agent Orange and radiation
Requires VA to provide a toxic exposure screening to every Veteran enrolled in VA health care
Helps us improve research, staff education, and treatment related to toxic exposures
If you’re a Veteran or survivor, you can file claims now to apply for PACT Act-related benefits.
What does it mean to have a presumptive condition for toxic exposure?
To get a VA disability rating, your disability must connect to your military service. For many health conditions, you need to prove that your service caused your condition.
But for some conditions, we automatically assume (or “presume”) that your service caused your condition. We call these “presumptive conditions.”
We consider a condition presumptive when it's established by law or regulation.
If you have a presumptive condition, you don’t need to prove that your service caused the condition. You only need to meet the service requirements for the presumption.
Am I eligible for VA health care under the PACT Act?
You’re eligible to enroll now—without needing to apply for disability benefits first—if you meet the basic service and discharge requirements and any of these descriptions are true for you:
You served in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, or any other combat zone after 9/11, or You deployed in support of the Global War on Terror, or
The Biden-Harris Administration launched the American Climate Corps to prepare tens of thousands of young people for careers in the clean energy economy.
President Biden is announcing a new initiative to train young people in high-demand skills for jobs in the clean energy economy. The American Climate Corps will put a new generation of Americans to work conserving our lands and waters, bolstering community resilience, advancing environmental justice, deploying clean energy, implementing energy efficient technologies, and tackling climate change. American Climate Corps members will gain the skills necessary to access good-paying jobs that are aligned with high-quality employment opportunities after they complete their paid training or service program.
The Biden-Harris Administration Announces Virtual Listening Sessions
As we gear up for a successful launch of the American Climate Corps, we want to hear directly from you! That’s why we’re hosting virtual listening sessions – to hear your ideas on how to shape this historic initiative. Each listening session will feature a special guest and climate champion like Senator Ed Markey, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi, AmeriCorps CEO Michael Smith, and more.
