5.20 Medical Evidence Of Probable Entitlement

[allan]

M21-1-3 Claims Development

5.20 MEDICAL EVIDENCE OF PROBABLE ENTITLEMENT

a. General. A private physician's statement meeting the requirements of 38 CFR 3.326(d) or a hospital or examination report from any of the sources provided in 38 CFR 3.326© may be accepted for rating purposes if it is adequate. In all cases, permit simultaneous development of evidence [38 CFR 3.326(b)]. Both lay statements and medical reports of treatment by an attending physician, if available, may be used.

b. Prompt Submission to the Rating Activity. Evidence or current disability may be contained in reports from a VA or a non-VA medical facility at VA expense or in evidence already of record showing the existence of a chronic condition likely to interfere with employability. If so, submit the claim to the rating board.

c. Requesting Medical Information from Social Security Administration. When considering a claim for pension if there is indication that the veteran is receiving disability Social Security benefits, request copies of the medical records on which the SSA decision was based. See chapter 9 for instructions on making this request.

d. Procurement of Evidence. In the absence of any of the conditions listed in subparagraph b above, medical evidence must be provided before the claim is referred to the rating activity or a VA physical examination is ordered. Follow the procedures in paragraph 1.02 re steps to take to fulfill VA’s duty to assist the claimant. If necessary evidence is not received, deny the claim for record purposes and notify the veteran that the evidence must be provided to reopen the claim.

[john999]

Berta

As a RVN vet I can tell you that as soon as the Iraq war is over the American nation is going to forget these wounded heros. Unpopular wars don't hold much fascination for the public. As the percentage of the American population that is exposed to the military and combat zones drops things will get worse for the future vets in my opinion. No one but the soldiers is making a sacrifice for this Iraq was as it is despite all the "support the troops" sentiment. The DOD will dump the wounded and disabled as cheaply as possible. The VA is all that stands in the way of many disabled vets from being on the streets begging.

[allan]

as cheaply as possible?

Is our rating process modeled after our health care, or vise versa?

Hello John,

I don't see anything going on at the VA now, but bidness as usual.

MANY, will suffer if left in the hands of those who care for us. Congress must take a stand & develope laws to protect us or take the credit for toturing us.

It's in their hands.

Berta,

I will try to finish my letter concerning 30day time limit & SSOC & get it in ASAP. I put little faith in letter writing as most of you know, but believe in what you say Berta. So I' will make more of an effort to make a written paper trail.

Would you mind viewing it & giving comment, before I send it off? I don't mind the VA & most of the veteran comunity thinking I'm crazy. That's a normal reaction to decades of the claims process I think. For Vets, NSO's & VA personel.

Im not comfortable with the entire nation knowing it for sure, once they read my thoughts.

Allan

[Berta]

Sure- you can post here and I will open my PM thing- if you prefer-

unfortunately because I questioned this- the proposed VA reg-it caused some animosity between me and a former member ---

But- I saw this as another right we could lose-

and as I stated in my letter to the Fed. Reg.- who can possibly get more evidence within 30 days, if they need an IMO that could take much longer, and how many vets can even get a vet rep appointment within a month after recipt of an SOC in order to prepare a response?

It is the SOC that contains what the veteran has to respond to-

even 60 days is not really long enough in many cases.

I appreciate very much Allan that you are willing to respond to this proposed reg-I think it is awful and will become law unless vets and vet orgs take a stand.

[Berta]

PS all-

It regards the SSOC response- not the SOC response- I got that mixed up-

the lengthy discusssion is here under Proposed new SSOc reg

and this is where you can find it:

Use the link I put in the first post on it-

then click on Department of Veterans Affairs

click then on Proposed

and the other proposed stuff will pop up to-

I commented on one of the other ones as well-

You can make public comment by email or letter-to any single proposed reg that will go into 38 CFR (when they tell us we can-that is--- the VA didnt allow public comment a few years ago on something and vets were furious)

When this all pops up you will get a icon for the actual text-of all the proposed regs- they dont link up well when you copy and paste the http link.They send some sort of acknowledgement when they get your comment.

If I had not had 60 days to respond to SSOCs in the past- I probably would still be fighting my claims from 1995.

I had to use 2 law librarys-both many miles away and find xerox machines-also many miles away-and a medical library in Corning-and one in a VA many miles away-and then co-ordinate all that as a single parent and widow-who also had to be here when my child got off the school bus-and I also had to continue to maintain the daily needs of the livestock I raised.

These days maybe a claimant can do it all in 30 days-with the internet etc- still-I am unwilling to sit back and see ANY reg diminish their ability and take something away from a vet's rights to fully support their claim.

We have enough time limits as it is and the VAROs dont have any.

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Docket Title AM49 - Supplemental Statement of the Case

Docket Type RULE

Document ID VA-2007-BVA-0016-0001

Views

Add Comments

How To Comment Written comments may be submitted through http://www.Regulations.gov; by mail or hand-delivery to the Director, Regulations Management (00REG), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, NW., Room 1068, Washington, DC 20420; or by fax to (202) 273-9026. Comments should indicate that they are submitted in response to RIN 2900-AM49--Supplemental Statement of the Case. Copies of comments received will be available for public inspection in the Office of Regulation Policy and Management, Room 1063B, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday (except holidays). Please call (202) 273-9515 for an appointment. In addition, during the comment period, comments may be viewed online through the Federal Docket Management System (FDMS) at http://www.Regulations.gov.

Title AM49 - Supplemental Statement of the Case

Document Type PROPOSED RULES

CFR Citation 38 CFR 19,20

Source Citation

Legal Authority 38 U.S.C. 501(a), unless otherwise noted

Effective Date

OMB/PRA Control No.

RIN 2900-AM49

Federal Register Citation 72 FR 14056

Federal Register Number E7-05435

Date Posted 03/26/2007

Comment Start Date 03/26/2007

Comments Due 05/25/2007

Implementation Date