News Room
NVLSP News Articles
Do you have questions about the lawsuit against the VA over the reimbursement of emergency medical costs at non-VA facilities? We talked to Bart Stichman, executive director at the National Veterans Legal Services Program to get some answers. [more]
Released 1/31/19 | Tags: Agent Orange, Board of Veterans' Appeals, Class Actions, Congressional Legislation, Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, Veteran's Benefits
In a huge victory for tens of thousands of Vietnam-era sailors, a federal court on Tuesday ruled the Department of Veterans Affairs must presume "Blue Water" Navy veterans were exposed to Agent Orange, unlocking VA benefits and disability compensation. [more]
Released 1/30/19 | Tags: Agent Orange, Board of Veterans' Appeals, Class Actions, Congressional Legislation, Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, Veteran's Benefits
A federal court ruled Tuesday that the Department of Veterans Affairs cannot deny disability benefits to thousands of Vietnam veterans who claim exposure to cancer-causing chemical defoliants simply because those vets served in the waters off the country’s coastline, and not inland. [more]
Released 1/30/19 | Tags: Agent Orange, Board of Veterans' Appeals, Class Actions, Congressional Legislation, Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, Veteran's Benefits
When Navy veteran Peter Boerschinger, 79, required emergency treatment for pneumonia and congestive heart failure, he assumed that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs would pick up the cost of the emergency room visit that his private insurance didn’t pay for. [more]
Released 1/13/19 | Tags: Board of Veterans' Appeals, Class Actions, Congressional Legislation, Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, Veteran's Benefits
Three lawsuits later, the VA is still making it unnecessarily difficult for veterans to get reimbursement for emergency medical costs from non-VA facilities. The National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) is working — for the third time in as many years — to fix that. [more]
Released 1/13/19 | Tags: Board of Veterans' Appeals, Class Actions, Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, Veteran's Benefits
From bail reform to class actions for veterans, 2018 was full of big cases in the realm of access to justice. Here, Law360 takes a look at four of the most consequential court decisions issued this year. [more]
Released 12/17/18 | Tags:
Last week the Veterans Affairs Department was hit with a class action lawsuit. It claims tens of thousands of vets never received reimbursement they’re entitled to for emergency medical services rendered at non-VA facilities. Bart Stichman, executive director and co-founder of the National Veterans Legal Services Program, joined Federal Drive with Tom Temin to explain why they’re going after VA. [more]
Released 11/12/18 | Tags: Class Actions, Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, Veteran's Benefits
Many Vietnam veterans and their survivors may be missing out on substantial payments they are entitled to receive as a result of exposure to Agent Orange, veterans’ advocates say. [more]
Released 11/3/18 | Tags: Agent Orange
Earlier this year the Department of Veterans Affairs executed a clever rewrite of a regulation to avoid reimbursing hundreds of thousands of veterans for non-VA emergency health care costs that their own insurance plans failed to pay in full. Now we are back in court. [more]
Released 11/1/18 | Tags: Class Actions, Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
Hundreds of thousands of veterans could be eligible for sizeable reimbursements of unpaid medical bills if a new class-action lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs is successful. [more]
Released 10/31/18 | Tags: Class Actions, Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims