The Veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of medical expenses at Providence Milwaukie Hospital is denied because a VA facility was feasibly available when he sought private treatment in preference to VA services.
The deciding factor: The Veteran chose to seek private treatment in preference to the availability of VA facilities, which rendered his claim ineligible for reimbursement under VA regulations.
- Claimed conditions
- epigastric distress
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 7, 2019
- Citation
- 19144179
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,316 · Granted: 43% (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 19144179.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for his service-connected GERD is remanded due to the inadequacy of the January 2019 VA examination, which did not evaluate all symptoms and provide an adequate assessment.
- Granted
The Veteran's gastrointestinal disability, which includes symptoms such as epigastric distress with dysphagia, pyrosis, regurgitation, melena, occasional constipation and weight loss without anemia, is productive of considerable impairment of health. The Board has granted a 30 percent rating for the entire appeal period.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for further development, including obtaining medical records and scheduling examinations to assess the veteran's conditions. The claims will be readjudicated after these actions.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.