President Biden, who has long advocated the expanded benefits, has speculated that his son Beau developed brain cancer because of exposure to burn pits when he served in Iraq.
Republicans who had blocked the bill, which would extend benefits to an estimated 3.5 million veterans, allowed it to pass after trying unsuccessfully to limit funding for the treatments.
An entire financial ecosystem surrounds the nation’s military installations. It’s a perilous landscape for young soldiers with little financial experience.