Citation Nr: 21011645
Decision Date: 03/02/21	Archive Date: 03/02/21

DOCKET NO. 11-33 664
DATE: March 2, 2021

REMANDED

The claim of entitlement to Service-Disabled Veterans Insurance (S-DVI) under 38 U.S.C. § 1922 is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran had active service from June 1976 to July 1979. In August 2018 the Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ).  A transcript of that hearing is of record.

Following a lengthy procedural history, the Board remanded this issue in June 2020 finding that “the Veteran’s claim for S-DVI under 38 U.S.C. § 1922 must be held in abeyance by the RO&IC until the AOJ has completed all development and adjudicative actions on the issues of entitlement to service connection for various disabilities.”  These various disabilities are pending in a separate appeal stream awaiting development by the RO per an April 2019 remand.

1. The claim of entitlement to Service-Disabled Veterans Insurance (S-DVI) under 38 U.S.C. 1922 is remanded.

To date, the development as directed in the Board’s April 2019 remand for the various disabilities pending in a separate appeal stream has not been accomplished.  The Board notes that the April 2019 Board remand directed the AOJ to provide the Veteran with several VA medical examinations and then readjudicate the 14 various claimed disabilities in light of the additional evidence.  The Veteran’s claims file reflects that as of October 2020 the AOJ has yet to schedule the Veteran for any of the requested examinations pending determination as to whether the jurisdiction of the RO should be transferred to Louisville.  Further, the Veteran’s claims file reflects that while the AOJ has initiated confirmation of exposure to mustard gas in November 2020, as directed by the April 2019 Board remand, neither response to the request or follow-up by the AOJ for the request is of record.

As such, this appeal is not yet ripe for adjudication and must be remanded until the development in the Veteran’s separate appeal stream is completed as directed.  

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. The Veteran’s claim for S-DVI under 38 U.S.C. § 1922 must be held in abeyance by the RO&IC until the AOJ has completed all development and adjudicative actions on the issues of entitlement to service connection for various disabilities pursuant to the Board’s April 2019 remand.

2. Following the AOJ’s adjudication of the Veteran’s remanded claims for service connection the RO&IC should conduct a preliminary assessment of the Veteran’s claim of entitlement to S-DVI.  If it appears that the claim will remain denied, the AOJ should seek to obtain further medical explanation from the underwriter, to include obtaining a new underwriting if necessary, as to how the underwriter arrived at the specific debits assigned for the Veteran’s nonservice-connected disabilities; the underwriter should also be asked to identify the evidence relied upon to arrive at each numerical rating. Thereafter, the AOJ should then adjudicate the claim of entitlement to S-DVI, considering all pertinent evidence and legal authority.

 

 

Michael J. Skaltsounis

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	N. Peden

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.