Citation Nr: A21020588
Decision Date: 12/28/21	Archive Date: 12/28/21

DOCKET NO. 210111-185349
DATE: December 28, 2021

ORDER

Entitlement to payment or reimbursement for medical services provided by Mountain State Oral and Facial Surgeons (Mountain State) on June 10, 2020 is dismissed.

FINDING OF FACT

There is currently no effective VA determination as to entitlement to the benefits sought on appeal.

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. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 20.205.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran had active duty in the Army from August 1966 to May 1967.  

The appellant, Mountain State Oral and Facial Surgeons, is the provider of the medical services in question on June 10, 2020, and seeks payment for such services from VA.  The appellant submitted a VA Form 10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement) in December 2020, which did not include the date of the decision being appealed but identified the date of service in question and the authorization number for such treatment.

In an August 2021 Report of Contact, VA determined that there were no claims on file within VHA's Payment Operations and Management Office (POM), but the authorization number was associated with the Community Care Network (CCN).  

An August 2021 letter was sent to the appellant stating that the services incurred on June 10, 2020 had been authorized by Beckley VA Medical Center (VAMC) through the CCN and requested that the appellant submit the claim for payment of such services to the VA Third Party Administrator with the appropriate authorization number, so that such claims could be properly processed.  Here, the Third Party Administrator is Optum.

The agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) has therefore effectively rescinded any prior determination denying the benefits sought by the appellant, informed the appellant that it had not properly submitted its claims for such, and instructed the appellant as to whom its claim should be submitted.  Thus, there currently exists no effective determination by the AOJ as to entitlement to the benefits sought on appeal.  The Board therefore does not have jurisdiction to adjudicate the appeal, 

 

and it is dismissed.  See 38 U.S.C. § 7105; 38 C.F.R. § 20.205. 

 

L. M. BARNARD

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	J. Lee

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.