"WASHINGTON- In response to the November 5, 2020 Order of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the VA recently identified 60,492 so-called “Blue Water” Navy Vietnam Veterans and their survivors whose cases VA must automatically review to determine whether these individuals are entitled to retroactive compensation for their Agent Orange-related diseases. The District Court determined last November that this automatic review was necessary to enforce the 30-Year Old Class Action Consent Decree obtained by the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) in Nehmer v. U.S. Department of Veterans Administration (VA). NVLSP’s enforcement efforts were aided by the pro bono assistance of Paul Hastings LLP.
"The November 5 Order in Nehmer fills a major gap that exists in the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019 (BWN Act), which codified the presumption that veterans who served within 12 nautical miles of the coast of Vietnam during the Vietnam era (known colloquially as Blue Water Vietnam Veterans) were exposed to toxic herbicides such as Agent Orange. The BWN Act does not automatically require the VA to assess if any Blue Water Vietnam veteran or survivor is entitled to retroactive compensation. The BWN Act requirement to pay retroactive compensation is triggered only if a Blue Water Vietnam veteran affirmatively files a claim after January 1, 2020 and the veteran specifically identifies the Agent-Orange related disease that was the subject of the earlier claim.
On the other hand, the November 5 Order requires VA to automatically review the cases of veterans and survivors who were previously denied retroactive benefits under the Nehmer Consent Decree based on the erroneous ground that the veteran must have served on the land mass or inland waterways of Vietnam to qualify for the presumption of herbicide exposure.
The November 5 Order also fills another gap in the BWN Act. If a veteran was previously denied retroactive benefits because the veteran did not set foot on land or serve in the inland waterways of Vietnam, the BWN Act does not require VA to pay retroactive compensation to the survivors if the veteran is now deceased. But under the November 5 Order, the retroactive compensation owed to the deceased veterans who served within 12 nautical miles of the coast of Vietnam must be paid to the survivors in the following payment order: (1) the surviving spouse; (2) the surviving children in equal shares (regardless of the age of the surviving children), and (3) the estate of the deceased Blue Water veteran.
“We call on VA to expedite its review of these 60,492 cases. Retroactive benefit payments in these cases are long overdue,” said National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) Executive Director Bart Stichman. “Most of these Blue Water Vietnam veterans and their survivors were wrongly denied retroactive compensation between 2010 and 2014.” There is no valid reason for further delay.”
(Pacman provided this info when it came out but it pays to repeat it, as it can affect thousands of BWN vets and/or their survivors ,who received a small retro payment based on former Sec Wilkie's Jan 1 2020 filing date info , as above, who were denied proper consideration of their potential better EED, because of the "Gaps" in the Blue Water Navy Act.)
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From NVLSP:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 12, 2021
In part:
"WASHINGTON- In response to the November 5, 2020 Order of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the VA recently identified 60,492 so-called “Blue Water” Navy Vietnam Veterans and their survivors whose cases VA must automatically review to determine whether these individuals are entitled to retroactive compensation for their Agent Orange-related diseases. The District Court determined last November that this automatic review was necessary to enforce the 30-Year Old Class Action Consent Decree obtained by the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) in Nehmer v. U.S. Department of Veterans Administration (VA). NVLSP’s enforcement efforts were aided by the pro bono assistance of Paul Hastings LLP.
"The November 5 Order in Nehmer fills a major gap that exists in the Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act of 2019 (BWN Act), which codified the presumption that veterans who served within 12 nautical miles of the coast of Vietnam during the Vietnam era (known colloquially as Blue Water Vietnam Veterans) were exposed to toxic herbicides such as Agent Orange. The BWN Act does not automatically require the VA to assess if any Blue Water Vietnam veteran or survivor is entitled to retroactive compensation. The BWN Act requirement to pay retroactive compensation is triggered only if a Blue Water Vietnam veteran affirmatively files a claim after January 1, 2020 and the veteran specifically identifies the Agent-Orange related disease that was the subject of the earlier claim.
On the other hand, the November 5 Order requires VA to automatically review the cases of veterans and survivors who were previously denied retroactive benefits under the Nehmer Consent Decree based on the erroneous ground that the veteran must have served on the land mass or inland waterways of Vietnam to qualify for the presumption of herbicide exposure.
The November 5 Order also fills another gap in the BWN Act. If a veteran was previously denied retroactive benefits because the veteran did not set foot on land or serve in the inland waterways of Vietnam, the BWN Act does not require VA to pay retroactive compensation to the survivors if the veteran is now deceased. But under the November 5 Order, the retroactive compensation owed to the deceased veterans who served within 12 nautical miles of the coast of Vietnam must be paid to the survivors in the following payment order: (1) the surviving spouse; (2) the surviving children in equal shares (regardless of the age of the surviving children), and (3) the estate of the deceased Blue Water veteran.
“We call on VA to expedite its review of these 60,492 cases. Retroactive benefit payments in these cases are long overdue,” said National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) Executive Director Bart Stichman. “Most of these Blue Water Vietnam veterans and their survivors were wrongly denied retroactive compensation between 2010 and 2014.” There is no valid reason for further delay.”
https://www.nvlsp.org/news-and-events/press-releases/va-identifies-more-than-60000-blue-water-vietnam-veterans-survivors-c
(Pacman provided this info when it came out but it pays to repeat it, as it can affect thousands of BWN vets and/or their survivors ,who received a small retro payment based on former Sec Wilkie's Jan 1 2020 filing date info , as above, who were denied proper consideration of their potential better EED, because of the "Gaps" in the Blue Water Navy Act.)
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From NVLSP: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 12, 2021 In part: "WASHINGTON- In response to the November 5, 2020 Order of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the
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