Citation Nr: 21026884 Decision Date: 05/04/21 Archive Date: 05/04/21 DOCKET NO. 20-03 428 DATE: May 4, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to an effective date earlier than September 5, 2017 for the grant of service connection for acquired psychiatric disability is denied. FINDING OF FACT On September 5, 2017, the Veteran submitted a petition to reopen a previously denied claim of entitlement to service connection for acquired psychiatric disability. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for an earlier effective date of service connection for acquired psychiatric disability are not met. 38 U.S.C. § 5110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.400. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had active service between February 1960 and January 1961. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal of a rating decision by a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In April 2021, the Veteran testified in a hearing before the Board. A transcript of the hearing has been included in the electronic claims file and has been reviewed. Effective Date The Veteran claims entitlement to an earlier effective date of service connection for acquired psychiatric disability. The applicable law and regulations concerning effective dates state that, except as otherwise provided, the effective date of an evaluation and award of pension, compensation or dependency and indemnity compensation based on an original claim, a claim reopened after final disallowance, or a claim for increase will be the date of receipt of the claim or the date entitlement arose, whichever is the later. 38 U.S.C. § 5110 (a); 38 C.F.R. § 3.400. Effective on March 24, 2015, VA amended its rules as to what constitutes a claim for benefits. The amended rule requires that claims be made on a specific claim form prescribed by VA and available online or at a local RO. Prior to March 2015, a "claim" was defined broadly to include a formal or informal communication in writing requesting a determination of entitlement or evidencing a belief in entitlement to a benefit. 38 C.F.R. § 3.1 (p). Mere presence of evidence in the record of the existence of a disability did not establish intent to seek service connection. To establish a claim, the Veteran had to assert the claim expressly or impliedly. Brannon v. West, 12 Vet. App. 32, 35 (1998). See also Talbert v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 352, 356-57 (1995) (while the Board must interpret a veteran's submissions broadly, the Board is not required to conjure up issues that were not raised by the veteran). Indeed, VA's duty to adjudicate all claims reasonably raised does not require VA to anticipate a claim for a particular benefit where no intention to raise it was expressed. See Brannon, supra. In January 1961, the Veteran filed an original claim of entitlement to service connection for acquired psychiatric disability. In a February 1961 rating decision, the RO denied the claim. The Veteran did not appeal the decision. The February 1961 rating decision became final, therefore. See 38 C.F.R. § 20.302. Generally, a claim which has been denied in an unappealed rating decision may not thereafter be reopened and allowed. 38 U.S.C. §§ 7104 (b), 7105(c). The exception to this rule is 38 U.S.C. § 5108, which provides that if new and material evidence is presented or secured with respect to a claim which has been disallowed, VA shall reopen the claim and review the former disposition of the claim. 38 C.F.R. § 3.156 (a). The Veteran filed several petitions to reopen the claim of entitlement to service connection for acquired psychiatric disability, which the RO denied in several subsequent unappealed rating decisions. Most recently, in March 2014, the RO denied such a claim. Inasmuch as the Veteran did not appeal the decision, that decision became final as well. See 38 C.F.R. § 20.302. On September 5, 2017, the Veteran again filed a petition to reopen the claim of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability. In September 2018, the RO reopened the claim and granted entitlement to service connection. The RO awarded a 30 percent rating effective the date of claim. The Veteran appealed the decision to the Board. He maintains that an earlier effective date of service connection is warranted. The Board disagrees. The law is clear that, in determining an effective date for the award of service connection in this matter, neither the date of onset of disability nor the date of original claim, is controlling. Rather, the date of the most recent claim to reopen service connection is. That is the "later" date. 38 C.F.R. § 3.400. September 5, 2017 is the date on which VA received the Veteran's claim to reopen service connection for acquired psychiatric disability. This is the claim considered in the September 2018 rating decision granting service connection. From the final March 2014 rating decision to the date of claim to reopen in September 2017, the Veteran did not communicate, either expressly or impliedly, an interest in seeking service connection for a psychiatric disorder. See Brannon, supra. Nor was new and material evidence included in the claims file within one year of the March 2014 final rating decision. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(b). Thus, irrespective of when psychiatric disability began the appropriate effective date here is the date of the claim to reopen service connection following the final March 2014 rating decision. That date is September 5, 2017. 38 C.F.R. § 3.400. As such, an earlier effective date is unwarranted here. G. A. WASIK Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Christopher McEntee, 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.