The Board denied the veteran's claim for Service Disabled Veterans' Insurance (RH) under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1922(a) due to his nonservice-connected cervical disc disease and coronary artery disease, which exceeded the required 'good health' criteria.
The deciding factor: The veteran had a total of 600 debits for non-service connected disabilities (cervical spine degenerative disease and coronary artery disease), exceeding the 300-debit threshold for 'good health,' as per VA guidelines.
- Claimed conditions
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Hiatal hernia, Scar status post laceration of the third and fourth fingers of the right hand, Tinnitus, Bilateral hearing loss, Nonservice-connected cervical disc disease, Nonservice-connected coronary artery disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 14, 2003
- Citation
- 0315876
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0315876.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for depressive disorder as secondary to hypertension and tinnitus, but denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and an increased rating for hypertension.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, but remanded the claim for degenerative disc disease with degenerative arthritis.
- Partly granted
The Board denied an increased rating for PTSD with alcohol use disorder and discectomy with lumbar discogenic pain but granted a 20% initial rating for left lower extremity radiculopathy from April 18, 2023 through January 16, 2024. The service connection was denied for bilateral hearing loss but granted for left knee Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD).
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, as there was no evidence of a current disability in the right ear and insufficient evidence to establish a nexus between the left ear hearing loss and service.
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