I put in an IRIS request for current status of claim yesterday morning and received the following response yesterday afternoon:
"This is in response to your recent inquiry to the Department of Veterans Affairs dated November 4, 2010, in regard to the status of your claim.
To provide you with an update regarding the three Agent Orange presumptive conditions, the Department of Veterans Affairs sent the final rules to add the three new diseases to the list of presumptive service connected conditions related to exposure to Agent Orange. Parkinson’s, B-cell leukemia’s, and ischemic heart disease (IHD) are in the final rules which were published in the August 31, 2010 edition of the Federal Register.
The effective date of the rules is the publication. VA however we were not able to start paying benefits because these rules were subject to a 60 day stay provided for in the Congressional Review Act (CRA). Now that this review period has expired, we are beginning to make decisions and process payments for these presumptive conditions. Generally, they will be priority processed in the order they were received.
Our records indicate that as of June 4, 2010, your claim is ready for a decision. We will review your claim to make sure we have everything we need to make an informed decision. If we have everything we need, we will prepare a proposed decision on your claim.
The length of time it takes to complete the decision phase depends on several factors, such as the type of claim filed or the availability of evidence needed to decide your claim.
The decision phase is completed on most claims between 16 and 27 business days. Please be advised that a claim may take longer in this phase based on the specifics of your claim. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work our way through the claim processing procedures.
Generally, if benefits are payable, you may be entitled to a retroactive payment; however, we will not know until we make a final decision. You will receive notification via U.S. mail once your claim has been finalized, explaining our decision in detail.
Our records also indicate that a Nehmer claim has been established for you. In regard to the Nehmer ruling, we must review claims previously filed for these diseases and make payments retroactive to the claim date, or to the date of the Nehmer ruling, Sept. 25, 1985, whichever is later. You may considered under the Nehmer ruling if you had previously filed a claim for your IHD and were denied.
We are going to review those cases on our own...back to the earliest date Veteran’s claimed these disabilities -- but not earlier than Nehmer -- and will award benefits from that date.
Thank you for contacting us. If you have questions or need additional help with the information in our reply, please respond to this message or see our other contact information below."
I'll let you guys know when I get something in the mail.
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