Is the ITF(Intent to File) erased because of AMA or Opt into RAMP?

[Buck52]

Anybody know if a Veteran opts into the RAMP and has filed an INT (Intent to File)   Will VA Accept it just as if it were still in Legacy or traditional claims process?

They don't erase a INT do they? if veteran is opt into RAMP...I REALIZE A Veteran can't opt back to Legacy once he opts into RAMP.

Anybody know?

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[GeekySquid]

29 minutes ago, broncovet said:

The regulations state (somewhere) that, if 2 different regulations apply, then the Vet gets the more favorable one.  

@broncovet

I knew that applied to issues in equipose, but I did not know it applies to legislative or regulatory changes.

It would be amazing if you found that.

This statement by you touches on stuff I was reading today about whether a CFR change outweighs the USC. I think it was an OPGen opinion. I will try to find it. If I remember right that is not what the opinion said but I will look for it.

Update:

I just found what I was reading. It was in the Federal Register

 

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/01/18/2018-28350/va-claims-and-appeals-modernization

One comment expressed concern that § 3.155(b), Intent to file, does not apply to supplemental claims and recommends recision of this limitation. However, 38 U.S.C. 5110 of the new statutory framework provides that a claimant can maintain the potential effective date of a potential benefits award by submitting a request for review under any of the three new lanes within one year of the date of the decision with which the claimant disagrees. Consistent with this requirement, the intent to file provisions of § 3.155(b) do not apply to supplemental claims because the statute prescribes a one-year filing period in order to protect the effective date for payment of benefits. The commenters recommendation would allow for the submission of a supplemental claim beyond the one-year period. For these reasons, VA will not make any changes to § 3.155 based on the commenter's recommendation

 

This goes with another piece from Asknod at https://asknod.org/2019/02/24/ramp-screw-me-twice-shame-on-me/

in short the legacy system NOD will hit the RO and until the SOC is issued you will stay in the Legacy path. With the SOC you will be offered one of the three lanes in the Modernized System.

That is how they are getting around 3.155(b) with it's year requirement.

 

Edited May 9, 2019 by GeekySquid

[GeekySquid]

18 minutes ago, GeekySquid said:

That is how they are getting around 3.155(b) with it's year requirement.

Interestingly enough the M21-1 on line says

III.iv.5.C.2.a.  Applicability of ITF on Effective Date Assignment

On March 24, 2015, 38 CFR 3.155 was revised to include procedures for a claimant to indicate a desire to file a claim via submission of an ITF.  When an ITF is properly submitted, and a complete initial claim is received within one year of the ITF, the complete initial claim is considered filed as of the date the ITF was received.     Note:  The regulations governing ITF acceptance and impact, including 38 CFR 3.155, are not effective date rules.  The provisions for ITF apply to the date a claim is considered received, which in turn may impact determinations about effective dates.   Reference:  For more information on procedures for handling ITFs, see M21-1, Part III, Subpart ii, 2.C.2-5.

[Phury & Rhage]

I know I'm new but here's my 2 cents:

ITFs are still a valid thing, but they mostly relate to effective dates and that means they are *typically* going to have more impact on new or original claims.  

AMA, RAMP, and Legacy are all appeals processes, so effective dates for those are usually more complicated than with new/original claims and ITFs are only a single factor among many others that impact effective dates for issues granted on appeal.

I'm unclear about what Buck is trying to get an answer for.  Do you have a scenario?

Thanks,

Phury

Edited May 19, 2019 by Phury & Rhage

[GeekySquid]

13 minutes ago, Phury & Rhage said:

I'm unclear about what Buck is trying to get an answer for.  Do you have a scenario?

@Phury & Rhage

It's the same situation that I have with Legacy and an ITF I had filed.

When the VA changed over on Feb 19th, 2019 to the AMA process a lot of stuff happened and that always causes questions.

In my case I had filed an ITF under Legacy. Finally got another claim settled so I wanted to file the next claim. That other claim was complicated and took way too long to claim and I did not wantthe VA to combine the new claim with the old. I Learned the hard way that if they combine claims the decisions (and money) can take much longer.

Buck is asking if the same holds for RAMP people. I suspect they do converge at some point. In theory, people in ramp already at the BVA will stay in ramp and their ITF's will remain active but that filing would end up under AMA not RAMP.

In my case I when I went to file the NEW claim, the system saw the ITF and said it is there. So I filed.That was on May 8th, then on May 16th VES called to set up an appt for me on the C&P. that is fairly rapid. The claim should be an easy one to decide and there are no medical tests involved just answering questions. My med records at the VA document the issue.

I will post in my own tracking thread under this forum the stages I am going through just to set a time clock on how fast the AMA takes on a NEW easy claim.

As a side note, when this question came up in another thread I went to VA.GOV and "opened" a new claim. IN the process, step 3 I think, it popped up a screen that said Your Intent to File has been saved. Then it says "we found an existing ITF and you can have only one at a time".

 

 

[Phury & Rhage]

Excellent!  The thing with filing online is that any time you open an application and hit save - whether you ever finish it or not - it creates an ITF.  I don't know how the software handles it, but the processors know that the subsequent one gets labeled "duplicate" and has no effect.  Obviously, an ITF is only good for 1 year or less (until you file a claim that it attaches to).  But an ITF is also only good for ONE claim - the 1st valid claim after the ITF is created.  Once you file a valid claim, the active ITF is attached to that claim.  Then, you need to file another ITF so you have another active one for the following year...follow, lol?

[GeekySquid]

29 minutes ago, Phury & Rhage said:

Then, you need to file another ITF so you have another active one for the following year...follow,

@Phury & Rhage

yep that is the sequence as we know.