Citation Nr: 21069109 Decision Date: 11/17/21 Archive Date: 11/17/21 DOCKET NO. 15-19 626 DATE: November 17, 2021 ORDER The legacy appeal pertaining to the issue of entitlement to a rating in excess of 30 percent for sinus tachycardia from March 29, 2019, to the present is dismissed. The legacy appeal pertaining to the issue of entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for hypertension is dismissed. FINDING OF FACT On June 1, 2020, the Veteran opted into the modernized appeals system known as the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA) by filing VA Form 20-0996, Decision Review Request: Higher-Level Review, within 60 days of the issuance of the May 14, 2020, Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC) that denied increased ratings for her sinus tachycardia and hypertension, thereby withdrawing the instant legacy appeal. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The Board does not have jurisdiction to review the Veteran's legacy appeal pertaining to the issue of entitlement to a rating in excess of 30 percent for sinus tachycardia from March 29, 2019, to the present and it must be dismissed. 38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.2400(c)(2), 19.2(d), 19.55. 2. The Board does not have jurisdiction to review the Veteran's legacy appeal pertaining to the issue of entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for hypertension and it must be dismissed. 38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.2400(c)(2), 19.2(d), 19.55. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served on active duty from March 1996 to March 2000 and from January 2009 to January 2010. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from rating decisions issued in May 2012 and May 2013 by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office. In July 2018, the Board remanded the claims on appeal for additional development and, in July 2020, as relevant, denied a rating in excess of 30 percent for sinus tachycardia from March 29, 2019, to the present and an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for hypertension. Thereafter, the Veteran appealed such denials to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In July 2021, the Court granted a Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMPR), thereby vacating the July 2020 decision as to such issues and remanding the matters to the Board for further adjudication. The Board also notes that, in a November 2019 decision, the claims of entitlement to service connection for a vision disorder and a nerve disorder of the bilateral upper extremities, and entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability were remanded for additional development. However, in a July 2020 rating decision, service connection for bilateral dry eye syndrome was granted. As such is a full grant of the benefit sought on appeal with respect to the Veteran's claim for service connection for a vision disorder, it is no longer before the Board. Grantham v. Brown, 114 F.3d 1156 (Fed. Cir. 1997). Furthermore, while the Veteran's claims for service connection for a nerve disorder of the bilateral upper extremities and entitlement to a TDIU were readjudicated in a December 2020 SSOC, she opted into the AMA by filing a VA Form 20-0996, Decision Review Request: Higher-Level Review, in January 2021, thereby withdrawing such legacy appeals. 1. Entitlement to a rating in excess of 30 percent for sinus tachycardia from March 29, 2019, to the present. 2. Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for hypertension. As noted previously, in a July 2020 decision, the Board, as relevant, denied a rating in excess of 30 percent for sinus tachycardia from March 29, 2019, to the present and an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for hypertension. However, in the July 2021 JMPR, the parties found that the Board erred in failing to address whether it had jurisdiction to review the Veteran's claims in the legacy system in light of her election to opt into the AMA system. In this regard, on June 1, 2020, the Veteran opted into the AMA by filing VA Form 20-0996, Decision Review Request: Higher-Level Review, within 60 days of the issuance of the May 14, 2020, SSOC that denied increased ratings for her sinus tachycardia and hypertension, thereby withdrawing the instant legacy appeal. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.2400(c)(2), 19.2(d). As such was a timely filed, valid opt in to the AMA system, which withdrew the Veteran's legacy appeal with respect to the foregoing claims, the Board does not have jurisdiction over the instant appeal in the legacy system. Consequently, such must be dismissed. 38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 19.55. The Board further notes that such opt in was honored by the issuance of a Higher-Level Review decision on such claims in October 2020. A. JAEGER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board J. M. Kelly, Associate 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.