The Veteran's claim for reimbursement of medical expenses incurred at Lakewood Hospital from August 9, 2014 through August 16, 2014 is remanded due to insufficient information in the claims file regarding his enrollment in VA healthcare and the amount of the bill that was written off.
The deciding factor: The claim requires additional documentation to determine if the Veteran was enrolled in VA healthcare within the 24-month period preceding the treatment at Lakewood Hospital and whether any portion of the medical bills were covered by insurance or other means.
- Claimed conditions
- Abdominal pain, Colon mass removal
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19104480
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,435 · Granted: 22% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19104480.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for residuals of colon cancer is granted, with a new rating of 30 percent effective December 1, 2024. The claims for ratings in excess of 10 percent for two painful scars and for compensable ratings for four remaining scars are denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a disability manifested by abdominal pain, and remanded the claims for service connection for dyspnea and acute myeloid leukemia.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the veteran's claims for service connection due to outstanding records and the need for VA examinations.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for hearing loss, abdominal pain, and a left eye disorder was dismissed due to untimely filing of the Notice of Disagreement. The appeals for other conditions were denied based on lack of evidence linking them to service.
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