Citation Nr: A21020529 Decision Date: 12/27/21 Archive Date: 12/27/21 DOCKET NO. 190401-10550 DATE: December 27, 2021 ORDER The appeal as to the issue of entitlement to service connection for schizoaffective disorder (also claimed as chemical imbalance/nervous disorder) is dismissed. The appeal as to the issue of entitlement to service connection for anxiety disorder (also claimed as nerves/anxiety) is dismissed. The appeal as to the issue of entitlement to service connection for depression is dismissed. The appeal as to the issue of entitlement to service connection for bipolar disorder is dismissed. The appeal as to the issue of entitlement to service connection for psychosis is dismissed. FINDING OF FACT The issues of entitlement to service connection for schizoaffective disorder (also claimed as chemical imbalance/nervous disorder), for anxiety disorder (also claimed as nerves/anxiety), for depression, for bipolar disorder, and for psychosis were pending in the Legacy appeal system when the appellant filed a March 2019 VA Form 10182 for these issues at an improper time in the appeals process. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for dismissal of the issues of entitlement to service connection for schizoaffective disorder (also claimed as chemical imbalance/nervous disorder), for anxiety disorder (also claimed as nerves/anxiety), for depression, for bipolar disorder, and for psychosis, under docket number 190401-10550, are met. 38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.2400, 19.2, 20.104. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The appellant served in the Army National Guard from April 1991 to October 1993, with a period of active duty for training (ACDUTRA) from June 1991 to November 1991. On August 23, 2017, the President signed into law the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act, Pub. L. No. 115-55 (codified as amended in scattered sections of 38 U.S.C.), 131 Stat. 1105 (2017), also known as the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA). This law creates a new framework for veterans to appeal VA decisions with which they are not satisfied and includes various options for appealing an initial rating decision to the Board. The prior system for deciding such appeals is now referred to as the "legacy framework." The AMA applies to all claims for which VA issues notice of an initial decision on or after the effective date of the AMA, which is February 19, 2019. 38C.F.R. §§ 3.2400, 19.2. The AMA also applies where a claimant has elected review of a legacy claim under the AMA as provided in 38 C.F.R. § 3.2400(c). Under the law, an appellant can elect AMA review of a legacy claim only by opting in under the Rapid Appeals Modernization Program (RAMP) or by electing to proceed under the AMA after the issuance of a statement of the case (SOC) or supplemental statement of the case (SSOC). 38 C.F.R. § 3.2400(c). In this case, a rating decision was issued under the Legacy appeal system in August 2018 which denied service connection on the merits for schizoaffective disorder (also claimed as chemical imbalance/nervous disorder), for anxiety disorder (also claimed as nerves/anxiety), for depression, for bipolar disorder, and for psychosis, and the appellant submitted a timely VA Form 21-0958 (Notice of Disagreement) in October 2018. However, before a SOC was issued, the appellant filed a VA Form 10182 (Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement)) in March 2019 for these issues, electing the Board hearing docket. In July 2019, the Board sent the appellant a letter informing her that the appeal had been docketed on the AMA Hearing docket. As indicated above, the issues of entitlement to service connection for schizoaffective disorder (also claimed as chemical imbalance/nervous disorder), for anxiety disorder (also claimed as nerves/anxiety), for depression, for bipolar disorder, and for psychosis were pending in the Legacy appeal system by way of the appellant filing a timely notice of disagreement on a VA Form 21-0958 in October 2018 following the August 2018 rating decision in March 2019 when the appellant filed the VA Form 10182. As an SOC or SSOC had not yet been issued in the case and the appellant had not elected to participate in the RAMP program, this was an improper election into the modernized system and represents a procedural defect with the appeal of these issues based on the March 2019 VA Form 10182. Hall v. McDonough, 2021 U.S. App. Vet. Claims LEXIS 1838, No. 19-8717 (Vet. App. Oct. 18, 2021). Given this procedural defect, the Legacy appeal was not withdrawn and remained pending at the time the VA Form 10182 was docketed. As such, the Board improperly docketed the AMA appeal under Docket No. 190401-10550. See 38 U.S.C. § 7105; see also 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.2400, 19.2, 20.104. The appellant thereafter completed a proper AMA opt-in of these issues by filing a VA Form 10182 in November 2021 following the issuance of a November 2021 SOC addressing these issues. Consequently, the issues remain properly pending before the Board in the AMA appeal system under Docket No. 211129-200469 and will be addressed in a separate Board decision under that docket number at a later time. Therefore, the appeal of these issues under Docket No. 190401-10550 is dismissed due to the procedural defect of the filing of a VA Form 10182 in a Legacy appeal prior to issuance of an SOC or SSOC. The case is also dismissed as moot, since the issues are pending under another AMA docket and will be addressed under that docket number. M. SORISIO Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board L. B. Yantz, Counsel The Board's decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matters decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.