VA on BWN AO- possibly Nehmer?

[Berta]

https://www.va.gov/disability/eligibility/hazardous-materials-exposure/agent-orange/navy-coast-guard-ships-vietnam/

This just went onto the VA web site.

It contains much of what I posted here already but has this encouraging statement-----

"If we denied your claim because we determined that your disability wasn’t caused—or made worse—by your active-duty service, you can file a new claim based on the change in law.

In certain cases, if we approve your claim, we’ll pay you back to the date when you submitted your original claim. We refer to this as retroactive payment."

They mean the Footnote One provision of NEHMER!!!!   Still that has to be formally decided yet, but most vet lawyers and advocates believe it will Have to kick in,.because the BWN vets deserve the same equitable treatment s "boots on ground" Vietnam veterans.

Blue Waters are beginning to file their claims. The claims however will be on hold until the regulations are formalized.

I sure hope their survivors ,if the BWN vet is deceased, become aware of this . Good idea to pass this info around to anyone you know who needs to be aware of HR299.

[Berta]

Yes, the Retroactive part of Nehmer WILL KICK IN!

I heard back Serena Nguyen, Staff Attorney at NVLSP, who advises this:

"The Procopio decision and Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019 does grant retroactive disability benefits to Blue Water Veterans who served on ships within 12 nautical miles off the coast of Vietnam. However, the VA will not automatically review these veterans’ files, therefore we are encouraging all veterans and their surviving family members to submit renewed claims. The VA will review these cases after January 1, 2020."

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Since VA will not review the files, it is imperative for Blue Water Navy vets, or their survivors, who fall into the HR 299 criteria, to file their claims NOW !

They need to dig out any past VA denial of any AO presumptive, due to no boots on ground, and refer the VA in the claim, to the attached copy of that denial.

Their  Deck Logs have their coordinates, that are noted in  HR 299 and they should send VA a copy of their deck logs....the ones that fall into the Long/Lats in HR 299, as within the 12 mile limit.

But first every BWN vet should check the July 2019 VA AO ships list here and if they are on that list tell the VA, in the claim, and refer to a copy of that part of the AO Ship's list that puts them into AO exposure that VA has already confirmed.