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The Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000
A new law about VA disability kicked in on November 9, 2000. It’s the Veterans Claims Assistance Act (VCAA for short). It was congressional reaction to a court ruling that VA could not assist with disability claims unless and until those claims were well grounded. VCAA says (I think?) that your claim need not be well grounded in order to trigger the VA’s duty to assist you with your claim.
But what I really wanted you to know about the VCAA was it’s “grandfather” provision. For many veterans, this will be good news because you’ll get a second chance to prove your “lost” claim.
Any VA disability claim, denied or dismissed between July 14, 1999 and November 9, 2000, because it was not well grounded, is subject to readjudication. Those claims can be heard again, but only if you request that they be redone. And, you have two years from November 9, 2000 to make the request. Many, many thousands of claims fit this description for this time period. But the claimants who lost those claims must know of this opportunity and make a written request to VA to have these denied claims readjudicated. VA has no obligation to notify affected veterans of this opportunity.
A whole lot about the VCAA is not clear. VA is drafting regulations to implement the new duty to assist policy and those regulations may clarify matters in a few months when they are done. I’ve studied a recent interim VA instruction and it does appear that a free VA medical examination may be much easier to get whenever nexus or a medical link between inservice injury/disease and current disability is questionable -- and in most claims that is a critical question. Of course, it will be a VA exam by a VA doctor and some veterans have wondered whether VA docs are completely candid in these contexts. There are other aspects of the VCAA which VA and the courts will refine or mangle as time goes by.
Only one thing is reasonably clear at this juncture; if a claim was finally denied as not well grounded during the July ‘99 to November ‘00 period, claimants have two years to request, and receive, another chance.
About the Author:
Clark Evans is an attorney who handles veterans disability and pension claims on appeal. His articles generally discuss the VA compensation process and should not be construed as legal advice. Your specific circumstances should be discussed with a qualified veterans advocate to determine how the generic VA benefits awards scheme may affect you and your claim.