New claims appeals offer 3 options

#Middlebury #Veterans

After 18 months of being studied and readied, the Appeals Modernization Act of 2017 finally became official last month. You’ll now have more choice in how disability claim denials will be handled, hopefully with a speedier path through the process. You’ll have three choices:

1. With a Higher-Level Review, a “more experienced adjudicator” will do a new review of old decisions. The Department of Veterans Affairs hopes to have these claims completed in an average of 125 days.
2. With a Supplemental Claim, new information and evidence can be submitted. The VA will have a duty to assist in that process. It hopes to have these claims also completed in an average of 125 days.
3. If you want to appeal to the Board, you’ll have three choices: direct review, evidence or hearing. The VA hopes to complete direct reviews in an average of 365 days. (It used to take three to seven years!) Direct review doesn’t include new evidence; the other two options do.

The VA’s budget includes 605 more employees who will establish decision-making centers in Florida and Washington, joining a third center in Washington, D.C. For decisions received Feb. 19, 2019, or later, go online to www.va.gov/decision-reviews for more information. You have one year from the date of your decision to ask for a review. For decisions received before that date, there’s a different process. See the information at www.va.gov/disability/file-an-appeal.

Make note of the phrase “a more experienced adjudicator” mentioned above. If you end up with a lawyer helping you, that phrase – the VA’s own words – might come in handy if you can show that the previous adjudicator wasn’t up to the job.

© 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.