Supplemental Claim

[deedub75]

I am at a complete loss here.  I submitted a supplemental claim in 2/3/2020 for where I claimed my back and both knees secondary to bilateral pes planus and right ankle injury.  The claim moved quickly and I had C&P exams on 3/13/2020.  I checked on eBenefits today and saw that they granted back and both knees and even added 4 more contentions that I had not claimed.  However, they made 2/3/2020 the effective date for all contentions which completely defeats the purpose of getting earlier effective dates for all my percentages.  I called DAV and they told me that they indeed finalized the claimed with 2/3/2020 as the effective date.  

These claims go back as far as around 2011 or 2012 and it ended up in appeal on 2013.  I had a DRO review it and it was denied again in 2014 so I sent it to BVA where it sat there until they were remanded in 2017.  I asked for a HLR in RAMP because I didn't want to wait for legacy BVA.  It was denied again in July 2019 and so I got a nexus letter from my personal ortho doctor and send it in as a supplemental claim in Feb 2020.  So I've basically kept these claims open since at least 2012.  I have no idea why in the world they would put my effective date as 2/3/2020 on the date they received my supplemental claim.  DAV says I should just send it directly to BVA and and ask for earlier effective date and they will sort it out.  They said if I send it for a HLR they will just regurgitate the same info and leave the date the same.

What say you?

[JKWilliamsSr]

If I am reading this correctly you had your final denial in July 2019.  The question is if you appealed that decision or not because that is going to be key here.  If you did not appeal that decision but instead filed a new supplemental claim they effective date is going to be the date the supplemental claim was filed. 

[deedub75]

16 minutes ago, JKWilliamsSr said:

If I am reading this correctly you had your final denial in July 2019.  The question is if you appealed that decision or not because that is going to be key here.  If you did not appeal that decision but instead filed a new supplemental claim they effective date is going to be the date the supplemental claim was filed. 

That makes no sense because the VA recommends filing a supplemental claim within one year of the date of your decision on your decision letter.  This protects the most advantageous effective date for you, if you claim is successful and you may be eligible for retroactive benefit payments.  This comes directly from va.gov website.  

If what you're saying is correct, would the same apply for a higher level review?  I entered RAMP and asked for a HLR on 10/12/18 and it was decided on 7/9/19.  Had they granted from the HLR would effective date have then been 10/12/18?  I filed the supplemental in response the the HLR denial.  

Thank you for your response!

[JKWilliamsSr]

11 minutes ago, deedub75 said:

That makes no sense because the VA recommends filing a supplemental claim within one year of the date of your decision on your decision letter.  This protects the most advantageous effective date for you, if you claim is successful and you may be eligible for retroactive benefit payments.  This comes directly from va.gov website.  

If what you're saying is correct, would the same apply for a higher level review?  I entered RAMP and asked for a HLR on 10/12/18 and it was decided on 7/9/19.  Had they granted from the HLR would effective date have then been 10/12/18?  I filed the supplemental in response the the HLR denial.  

Thank you for your response!

I honestly believe the supplemental claim lane is meant the screw veterans over.   In the past you were able to reopen previously denied claims if you had additional evidence and could start it off with an intent to file.  Now you can no longer do that.  In order to reopen a claim that was previously denied you would have to file a supplemental claim if you were not in the appeal period. 

Now with that said your comments make sense and I believe you are correct with the supplemental claim being the next step in the appeal process if your HLR was denied.  Since he filed it after the denial date then it should still be an actual appeal. 

Edited March 17, 2020 by JKWilliamsSr

[Guest]

54 minutes ago, deedub75 said:

I am at a complete loss here.  I submitted a supplemental claim in 2/3/2020 for where I claimed my back and both knees secondary to bilateral pes planus and right ankle injury.  The claim moved quickly and I had C&P exams on 3/13/2020.  I checked on eBenefits today and saw that they granted back and both knees and even added 4 more contentions that I had not claimed.  However, they made 2/3/2020 the effective date for all contentions which completely defeats the purpose of getting earlier effective dates for all my percentages.  I called DAV and they told me that they indeed finalized the claimed with 2/3/2020 as the effective date.  

These claims go back as far as around 2011 or 2012 and it ended up in appeal on 2013.  I had a DRO review it and it was denied again in 2014 so I sent it to BVA where it sat there until they were remanded in 2017.  I asked for a HLR in RAMP because I didn't want to wait for legacy BVA.  It was denied again in July 2019 and so I got a nexus letter from my personal ortho doctor and send it in as a supplemental claim in Feb 2020.  So I've basically kept these claims open since at least 2012.  I have no idea why in the world they would put my effective date as 2/3/2020 on the date they received my supplemental claim.  DAV says I should just send it directly to BVA and and ask for earlier effective date and they will sort it out.  They said if I send it for a HLR they will just regurgitate the same info and leave the date the same.

What say you?

IMHO, VA used this evidence as new and awarded you your claim.  Yes, your claim has been continuously on appeal but did you have an equivalent evidence in your records back in 2011 and 2012.  If there was no nexus back in 2011 and 2012 how can VA give you an EED? Again IMHO, I think you would need something in your prior records that proved you met this rating.

[deedub75]

33 minutes ago, pete992 said:

IMHO, VA used this evidence as new and awarded you your claim.  Yes, your claim has been continuously on appeal but did you have an equivalent evidence in your records back in 2011 and 2012.  If there was no nexus back in 2011 and 2012 how can VA give you an EED? Again IMHO, I think you would need something in your prior records that proved you met this rating.

I get what you are saying, but these are secondary claims and the nexus has always been there.  I filed SC for bilateral pes planus/plantar fasciitis back in 2012 and I filed for my knees and back secondary to the the pes planus/plantar fasciitis.  They initially denied my foot claims so of course they denied all of my secondary claims.  I appealed asking for a DRO and the foot claims were approved but the knees and back were still denied.  They claimed I had a normal gait so it wasn't possible for knees and back to be messed.  They ignored the fact that my Army exit exam clearly stated that I had an abnormal gait. I appealed and sent in a copy of my exit exam but it was denied again because the examiner said my gait wasn't bad enough.  She said the literature said it wasn't possible for an abnormal gait to cause knee and back issues.  The BVA judge was skeptical of all of this and remanded it back to that examiner stating that didn't take into account that I clearly had an abnormal gait and the examiner provided no evidence of the literature that states that abnormal gait can't cause knee and back issues.  It doesn't exist!  I opted into RAMP knowing that I could always send it back to BVA.  The same examiner denied it again now saying that it was my age and my weight that caused my knee and back issues.  I was only like 35 years old and about 170 pounds when I filed these claims back in 2012.  I filed a supplemental with a nexus to get it out of the hands of the same advisor who kept denying my claim an it worked.  

DAV said just send it to BVA and they will go back and review all of my claims and fix it.  

[deedub75]

1 hour ago, JKWilliamsSr said:

I honestly believe the supplemental claim lane is meant the screw veterans over.   In the past you were able to reopen previously denied claims if you had additional evidence and could start it off with an intent to file.  Now you can no longer do that.  In order to reopen a claim that was previously denied you would have to file a supplemental claim if you were not in the appeal period. 

Now with that said your comments make sense and I believe you are correct with the supplemental claim being the next step in the appeal process if your HLR was denied.  Since he filed it after the denial date then it should still be an actual appeal. 

I worked in the VA years ago processing claims.  I asked one of my old coworkers who is a manager there now.  He said my claim should go all the way back to the original date that it was filed as long as I filed things timely.