Citation Nr: A21017141
Decision Date: 10/22/21	Archive Date: 10/22/21

DOCKET NO. 191217-170270
DATE: October 22, 2021

ORDER

The issue of entitlement to payment of medical expenses for services provided by Sacred Heart Health System (SHHS) on August 8, 2019, is dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

The claim for entitlement to payment of medical expenses for services provided by SHHS on August 8, 2019, was granted by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) has no jurisdiction to review the claim, and it must be dismissed.  38 U.S.C. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.104(b), (c).

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty from January 1985 to December 2018.  This appeal is before the Board from a decision of the VHA, which denied payment of medical expenses for services provided by SHHS on August 8, 2019.  The Veteran appealed in December 2019.

However, as reflected in VHA internal communication records, VHA subsequently reversed its decision regarding the August 8, 2019, services provided to the Veteran by SHHS and approved the claim, and a July 2021 Explanation of Benefits reflects that the claimed expenses were paid.  

VHA informed the Veteran, in a July 2021 letter, that, on secondary administrative review, his previously denied reimbursement claim for the August 8, 2019, treatment, for which he had submitted an appeal, had been approved.  The letter stated that the Veteran would receive further information regarding the processing and payment of the claim, but that he may submit a copy of the letter to credit bureau agencies as verification of VA's responsibility for payment of his claims and for their use to expunge the matter from his credit history.

Given the above, there no longer remains a question for appellate consideration by the Board.  See 38 C.F.R. § 20.104(b).  Therefore, the Board does not have jurisdiction to review the appeal, and it must be dismissed.  See 38 U.S.C. § 7104(a); 38 C.F.R. § 20.104(c).

 

 

JONATHAN B. KRAMER

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Andrew Mack, Counsel

The Board's decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.