Released 4/20/16 at The Tomahawk | Tags: Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims recently held that the Department of Veterans Affairs had been using an invalid regulation since 2009 to deny reimbursement to veterans for emergency medical costs incurred outside of the V.A. health care system. “This is a major win for veterans, and their families,” said Bart Stichman, joint executive director of National Veterans Legal Services Program and an attorney in the case. “This practice has violated federal law since at least 2009. The court’s ruling means the V.A. will have to amend the unlawful regulations it should have amended in 2009 and do right by these veterans.” He added that the ruling was “not just a win for one veteran,” but that “veterans who have pending claims for reimbursement will benefit. Plus, veterans whose reimbursement requests were turned down years ago may now be able to get paid by claiming that the previous denial contained ‘clear and unmistakable error.’ “