Bva Remand

[VetsLady]

Hi,

Can anyone tell me why AMC is returning a remanded claim (all development was completed) to DC?

Who does make the decision? From what I have read, it seems like the AMC makes a recommendation

to the BVA and BVA will concur or deny. Either way, can the BVA can reverse the decision? We don't know

what the decision is yet, if any. Will that actually come from AMC via snail mail or BVA? BTW, we self-rep

and plan to keep it that way. Last SO did nothing for the claim.

Claim was awarded 70% in April 08, but still had one other issue on appeal that went the whole nine yards to

BVA.

We are going in to the 7th year of this claim.

Thoughts appreciated.

[john999]

Has the vet filed for IU with a 70% rating? That 70% is the key to get 100% payment rating via IU. An extra 10% won't mean a thing if it takes years to get there.

[Berta]

The AMC can award or deny.

I saw 2 awards they made ( from vets not at hadit) which I was startled at-I

even asked a lawyer at NVLSP about one of them-it didnt make sense to him either-

hope those awards dont fall back on the vet at some point.

Personal experience I had was

Claim filed in Feb 2003

Denied ad finitum by Buffalo VARO and sent to BVA

BVA sent to AMC

AMC sent to Seattle RO

Denial from Seattle VARO

went back to BVA

BVA awarded the claim April 2009.

It took 6 years for the VA to read my evidence -and this only occurred at the BVA in April 2009

Like John I am assuming this was a TDIU claim?

When did the TDIU form get filed.

70% should trigger the VA to send the TDIU form-

was the TDIU denied at the VARO level and is this basis of the appeal at BVA?

After getting letters from NY,Seattle, and AMC DC- and two erroneous BVA letters (they had sent me 2 vets decisions by mistake some time ago)- I didn't even think the big brown envelope that came end of April from the BVA was a decision for my claim or maybe just some denial based on a fishing expedition (what we call it when the VA shops for docs to keep denying the claim) and I had just ordered and paid for another IMO.

I was stunned that it was an award letter.

(SC death of my husband who died 14 years ago)

The BVA unlike the AMC etc will read ALL of the evidence they have.

I made sure they had my evidence as it kept disappearing from the RO or they deliberately kept ignoring it.

I sent my last evidentiary submissions directly to the BVA as well as copies of considerable other evidence and a list of the dated submissions that should have been in the C file but might have been in a shredder instead.

What issue do you have at the BVA?

[VetsLady]

Yes, but SSD disabled him for a non-SC condition few years ago. IU is not what we're going for. It's a case of 100% schedular rather than trying for the

bits and pieces to get to 100%. That would never happen. You can have a whole sling of 10's, enough for a pretty little necklace and still won't get to 100%,

so we are going for the 100% SC on this final issue. Definetly meets all the criteria, without a doubt. The entire original claim was denied, appealed,

re-reviewed for the 70%, granted at RO level, the rest of it, (1 issue) went to BVA, hearing occurred, remand to AMC, file went back to AMC DC on 9/2

per IRIS inquiry.

I appreciate your thoughts.....I'm trying to find out who makes the decision on the issue that was appealed? Is it that AMC makes a recommendation to BVA

based on the evidence and on any additional evidence the VLJ asked for, and sends the file back to DC for final decision.

I may have not listed my question specifically. My apology.

Does anyone know who does make that final decision? We waived rights for RO's to readjudicate as the claim is moving into the old stack at BVA and was pretty

clear the original RO couldn't tell their right from their left. Long story......

Thanks.

[VetsLady]

Berta,

Did not see your reply prior to my reply to John, thanks John.

IU isn't the issue here at all. We did file a TDIU last Oct and were denied, as the SSD determined IU was not

in relation to a SC condition.

At BVA, there is 1 issue on appeal, cut and dry. Three Components are present:

Present disease-injury/related to in-service occurence/2 Nexus letters relating current disease/injury to service,

1 of those from a QTC doc, 1 from Vets private MD. A stack of medrecs VA didn't have when they made the

determination of the claim in April 08, awarding him 70%. The final issue is the clencher.

VA made decision on records they had through mid 04 only, even with the 70% SC. They have everything now,

up to date and always sent CM/RR. SO was never ever available, but that is in the past and we are in the present

so it's a moot subject with the SO. Their POA was revoked after the hearing and the file has moved along a little

fast than a snail's pace since, which is to say it's faster than with the SO we had!

Thanks for answering my question....

[vaf]

VetsLady, my husband is in the same situation as yours. The Board remands, sends it to the AMC for development (which in our case involved another C & P), the AMC issues a Statement of the Case to the veteran in which it recommends to the Board that the claim either be granted or denied (the AMC in this case recommended a denial). The actual decision, however, is made by the Board, who can do as the AMC recommended, but on the other hand, may not.

[VetsLady]

Thanks vaf,

I thought this was the way it would go.

So, the SOC is sent out to the Vet when the claim folder is sent back to the BVA?

If so, it's probably at the Post Office with the rest of our mail from the past week

since IRIS inquiry stated AMC sent sent the claim folder to BVA on 9/2.

Thx,

VetsLady