Citation Nr: 21012657 Decision Date: 03/04/21 Archive Date: 03/04/21 DOCKET NO. 15-10 612A DATE: March 4, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for a right arm disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a right knee disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a left knee disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a right foot disability is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for a left foot disability is remanded. Entitlement to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for a right ankle disability is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran had active service from May 1971 to October 1972. The Veteran appeared at an April 2019 hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge sitting at the New York, New York, Regional Office. The hearing transcript is of record. Entitlement to service connection for a right arm disability, a right knee disability, a left knee disability, a right foot disability, and a left foot disability and an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for right ankle sprain residuals is remanded. A December 2019 report from the Social Security Administration (SSA) states that the Veteran was in receipt of disability benefits. The evidence considered by the SSA in granting the Veteran’s claim is not of record. The Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) duty to assist the Veteran includes an obligation to obtain the records from the SSA. Masors v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 181 (1992). Clinical documentation dated after December 2020 is not of record. VA should obtain all relevant VA and private treatment records which could potentially be helpful in resolving the Veteran’s claims. Murphy v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 78 (1990); Bell v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 611 (1992). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Ask the Veteran to complete a VA Form 21-4142 for each private healthcare provider who has treated him for any right arm, knee, and foot disabilities and the service connected right ankle disabilities. Make two requests for the authorized records from all identified healthcare providers unless it is clear after the first request that a second request would be futile. 2. Associate with the record any VA medical records for treatment provided after January 2020 not already of record. 3. Contact the SSA and request copies of all records developed in association with the Veteran’s award of disability benefits. Harvey P. Roberts Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board J. T. Hutcheson, 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.