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Making an appeal to the VA for your disability claim can be a daunting task. Hundreds of thousands of veterans have found themselves waiting for their case to be processed through an enormous backlog, only to be rejected or sent back for further information. The expert Arizona VA Disability Attorneys at Stone Rose Law know how to navigate this frustrating landscape, and help ensure that your claim is given proper attention in a proper timeframe.
The appeals process to the VA has been changed recently. In August of 2017, Congress passed the Veteran Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act, called the AMA for short, which has been signed into law. The law creates three tiers of decision review for veterans disagreeing with decisions on their benefits, requires the VA to conduct notifications when decisions are made, and most importantly improves the speed at which claims can be processed.
When you file an appeal under the AMA you must choose one of three options. The first is called Higher-level review, which means that your claim will be given a new look by a set of fresh eyes from a senior claims adjudicator. The adjudicator will look at your entire claims file, but you cannot submit any new evidence. If a higher-level review is denied, the other two options are still available.
The second option for an appeal under the AMA is the Supplemental Claim. In a supplemental claim you will be able to present new evidence relevant to your disability or condition, and have the claim reviewed by an adjudicator. The ability to submit additional evidence can be crucial to succeeding in your claim, but can also extend the time it take to get a decision. The expert VA Disability Lawyers at Stone Rose Law will help you make the best decision when filing your AMA appeal. If the VA denies a claim made as a supplemental claim, the other two options are still available.
The third option, called a Notice of Disagreement, is a direct appeal to the Board of Veteran’s Appeals. Within this option, veterans are yet again faced with three choices: evidence docket, hearing docket, or direct docket. A case filed as a notice of disagreement will be heard by a Veterans Law Judge, meaning that if you disagree with the ruling your only recourse is to file an appeal to the Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims.
The number of crucial decisions that must be made when filing an appeal under the AMA can be confusing, daunting, and even frightening. The Arizona military law attorneys at Stone Rose Law will help guide you through the process, and ensure that your claim is aggressively handled through the proper lanes of appeal. Contact Stone Rose Law today for a free consultation, and make sure you get the money you deserve.