On August 24, 2017, Donald Trump signed the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization bill which will overhaul the appeals process for veterans who have had their workers compensation claims denied. The current process can leave veterans waiting an average of five years to have their appeal reviewed.
The new bill, which has received wide bipartisan support, creates three paths for veterans to appeal their claim with the VA. The first path allows them to take their appeal directly to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, the second allows them to request a higher-level VA adjudicator to decide the case and the third allows for an appeal to the same adjudicator who denied the claim as long as there is new information.
Officials with the VA are saying that it will take 18 months to implement the new system, but in the long term, it should prove to be better for veterans. The biggest problem, however, is that the new regulations don’t do anything to alleviate the backlog.
In addition to the new bill, VA secretary David Shulkin plans to announce a plan next month that will create a system that allows claims to be decided in 30 days. Together, with other bills passed this year, the goal is to streamline the claims for process for veterans in order to get them the services and treatments that they need.
This article is general information, not legal or medical advice. Best DOL Doctors is independent and not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Labor or OWCP. See our editorial policy.