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
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.
- 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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral onychomycosis, tinea cruris, allergic rhinitis, abdominal pain, and pseudo folliculitis of the face as these conditions were not found to be related to in-service exposure to toxins.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and depressive disorder, was granted. The claims for prostate cancer, hypothyroidism, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, hypertension, right eye residuals of pterygium, left eye residuals of pterygium, bilateral hip disorder, bilateral ankle disorder, and abdominal pain were all remanded.
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