Military Health Care: Information on Use of and Access to Toxic Exposure Records

TL;DR

GAO found that the Individual Longitudinal Exposure Record (ILER) — a web application that links service members’ and veterans’ military toxic exposure and related information from Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) databases — has seen increased use since the Honoring our PACT Act of 2022 was enacted in August 2022. The increase in use was driven largely by Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) staff, who remain the largest user group. In March 2026 service members gained the ability to access ILER and add self-reported updates; ILER officials plan to enable service members to request corrections by September 2026 and plan to enable veterans to access ILER and request corrections by October 2026. Officials and stakeholder organizations say access can improve transparency and clinician conversations but may produce frustration when records are incomplete; ILER outreach aims to set expectations about capabilities and limitations. Immediate implications for contractors include increased demand for systems, services, or analytics that support claims processing, clinical decision support, and outreach/education efforts to address incomplete records and stakeholder expectations.

Key Points

• What happened: GAO reported on use of the ILER web application; ILER links DOD and VA toxic exposure and related data and saw increased use after the PACT Act expanded VA eligibility in August 2022.
• Who is affected: Service members, veterans, Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA).
• Timeline: ILER launched in 2019; GAO analyzed ILER use through January 2026; service members gained ILER access in March 2026; planned correction-request capability for service members by September 2026; planned veteran access and correction-request capability by October 2026.
• What contractors should do NOW: Audit current offerings for claims-processing, health-data integration, and outreach support; prepare concise capability statements addressing data integration, record reconciliation, and user-facing transparency tools; monitor ILER outreach and stakeholder feedback to align messaging; notify capture/proposal leads and technical teams to evaluate pipeline and resourcing.

Who Is Affected

Specific NAICS codes, agencies, and contract vehicles pending source review. Broadly affected segments are:

• Service members (active-duty)
• Veterans
• Department of Defense (DOD) staff using ILER
• Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) staff, including Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA)
• Organizations supporting clinical care, claims processing, and exposure research

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Who can currently access ILER?

A: Per the GAO summary, DOD and VA staff have been ILER users; service members gained access in March 2026. GAO reports that veterans are planned to receive access by October 2026. For specific user roles and access controls, pending source review.

Q: What operational impacts should contractors expect immediately?

A: Expect increased demand for support related to claims processing, data integration across DOD/VA databases, record reconciliation, and outreach/education materials to manage expectations about record completeness. Specific contracting opportunities and sourcing actions are pending source review.

Q: Will ILER access increase veteran claims or create new requirements for contractors?

A: GAO indicates that access may support VBA claims processing and clinician interactions, and that usage increased after the PACT Act, but specific changes to procurement, contract requirements, or programmatic mandates are pending source review.

Definitions

• Individual Longitudinal Exposure Record (ILER): A web application that links service members’ and veterans’ military toxic exposures and related information from DOD and VA databases to support clinicians, researchers, and VBA claims staff.
• Honoring our PACT Act of 2022 (PACT Act): Legislation enacted in August 2022 that expanded eligibility for VA health care and disability benefits to veterans who experienced certain toxic exposures during their military service.
• Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA): The VA component identified in the summary as a primary user of ILER for processing disability claims.

Intelligence Response

• Cabrillo Signals War Room — Already detected this event and delivered this briefing. Continuously monitors regulatory changes, contract vehicles, and policy shifts.
• Cabrillo Signals Match Engine — Automatically rescores opportunity pipelines when events like this shift the competitive landscape.
• Cabrillo Signals Intelligence Hub — Tracks affected agencies, NAICS codes, and contract vehicles. Saved searches alert when follow-on solicitations appear on SAM.gov (System for Award Management).
• Proposal Studio (Proposal OS) — AI-powered proposal automation with compliance matrices, win theme library, and bid/no-bid decision engine.
• Proposal Studio Workflow Tracker — 9-gate capture management with automated compliance routing and audit-ready documentation.

Which Cabrillo products to leverage: Use Cabrillo Signals War Room for event context and alerts; Cabrillo Signals Intelligence Hub to create saved searches for DOD/VA opportunities and to track any ILER-related solicitations; Cabrillo Signals Match Engine to reprioritize your opportunity pipeline based on ILER-driven demand; use Proposal Studio and Proposal Studio Workflow Tracker to prepare rapid capability statements and capture packages.

Who to notify: BD/capture leads, proposal managers, technical leads for health data integration, and outreach/communications teams.

First 48-hour playbook:

• Hour 0–4: Confirm receipt of this briefing via Cabrillo Signals War Room and notify BD/capture and proposal leads. Open an incident in Proposal Studio Workflow Tracker and assign owners.
• Hour 4–12: Use Cabrillo Signals Intelligence Hub saved searches to scan for immediate solicitations or RFI opportunities referencing ILER, PACT Act, or toxic-exposure programs. Begin a quick gap analysis of current capabilities versus ILER-related needs.
• Hour 12–24: Re-score priority opportunities with Cabrillo Signals Match Engine and produce a one-page capability statement in Proposal Studio focused on data integration, claims support, and outreach tools.
• Hour 24–48: Convene capture team to finalize go/no-go decision, assign proposal tasks via Proposal Studio Workflow Tracker, and prepare outreach materials to match ILER messaging expectations (transparency about data completeness). Link program and compliance notes to Winning Federal Contracts Guide (/insights/winning-federal-contracts) and reference CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification) Compliance Guide (/insights/cmmc-compliance-guide) and CUI (Controlled Unclassified Information)-Safe CRM Guide (/insights/cui-safe-crm-guide) as needed.

Primary hub: Winning Federal Contracts Guide (/insights/winning-federal-contracts)

Related guides: CMMC Compliance Guide (/insights/cmmc-compliance-guide), CUI-Safe CRM Guide (/insights/cui-safe-crm-guide)