Citation Nr: 21030953 Decision Date: 05/20/21 Archive Date: 05/20/21 DOCKET NO. 16-00 368 DATE: May 20, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for hepatitis C is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran had active duty service in the United States Army from September 1974 to August 1976, and from November 1977 to November 1984. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2014 rating decision. The record shows that an August 2012 rating decision initially denied the Veteran's service connection claim for hepatitis C. Within one year of that decision, the Veteran submitted an August 2012 request for reconsideration and an October 2012 private medical opinion related to his claim. The agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) also obtained a VA examination in connection with his claim in February 2013. In accordance with 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(b), the AOJ reconsidered and denied the claim in a June 2013 rating decision. In October 2013, the Veteran submitted a request for reconsideration of this decision, indicating that the AOJ had not addressed the October 2012 private opinion he submitted. Although the Veteran also submitted a notice of disagreement in December 2013, the Veteran's representative clarified in a May 2014 e-mail that the Veteran was requesting for the AOJ to reconsider his claim. The AOJ subsequently reconsidered and denied the claim in a May 2014 rating decision. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(b). The Veteran then filed a timely notice of disagreement in July 2014. In decisions dated in August 2018 and March 2020, the Board remanded the case to the AOJ for additional development and adjudication. The case has since been returned to the Board for appellate review. The Board notes that after the March 2020 Board decision remanded the issue under the legacy system, but before the AOJ had readjudicated the service connection claim for hepatitis C, the Veteran submitted a June 2020 VA Form 10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement), in which chose the Direct Review option and included his service connection claim for hepatitis C in addition to a separate service connection claim for a lumbar spine disorder. Although an August 21, 2020 letter indicated that the Veteran's appeal of these issues had been placed on the Board's Direct Review docket, a separate August 21, 2020 letter clarified that the Board did not accept the VA Form 10182 with respect to the Veteran's service connection claim for hepatitis C. The August 2020 letter acknowledged the Board's receipt of the June 2020 VA Form 10182 before explaining that at the time of the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA's) receipt of the VA Form 10182, VA had not made a decision in the modernized review system for the issue of hepatitis C that the Veteran identified in his request. The letter also explained that the Veteran would be able to opt-in to the modernized review system if he received a Statement of the Case (SOC) or Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC) on or after February 19, 2019. The AOJ later issued an SSOC that readjudicated this issue in November 2020, and the SSOC included information notifying the Veteran that he was eligible to opt-in to the modernized review system based on his receipt of the November 2020 SSOC in addition to enclosing a fact sheet with an explanation of the decision review options and submission deadlines. However, the Veteran did not respond to the SSOC by submitting an appropriate form necessary to opt his claim into the modernized review system. As such, the issue remains in the legacy system. 1. Entitlement to service connection for hepatitis C is remanded. The Board notes that a remand is necessary to attempt to obtain outstanding Social Security Administration (SSA) records. An August 2015 VA treatment record indicated that the Veteran received monthly income from Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) before noting that he had both physical and mental disabilities. Given that this record suggests that the Veteran's SSA disability benefits are partly based on physical disabilities such as the Veteran's hepatitis C, the SSA records associated with the Veteran's award of disability benefits appear to be relevant to the Veteran's service connection claim for hepatitis C. VA has a duty to assist claimants to obtain evidence needed to substantiate a claim, including making as many requests as are necessary to obtain relevant records from a Federal department or agency such as the SSA. 38 U.S.C. § 5103A; 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c)(2). As the record does not show that the AOJ has attempted to obtain these SSA records, efforts to obtain the records should be made upon remand. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain from the Social Security Administration (SSA) the records pertinent to the pertinent to the Veteran's claim for SSA disability benefits as well as the medical records relied upon concerning that claim. If the records are not available, the Veteran should be notified of such. 2. After completing the above action, and any other development as may be indicated by any response received as a consequence of the actions taken in the paragraph above, the claim must be readjudicated. GAYLE STROMMEN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board K.C. Spragins, 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.