The Veteran received inpatient rehabilitation at a non-VA facility after an emergency stroke. The VA denied reimbursement initially, but the Board found that the transfer to the non-VA facility was reasonable and documented attempts were made for transfer to a VA facility. Therefore, payment or reimbursement of medical expenses incurred from February 5 to March 1, 2016 at Winter Haven Hospital is granted.
The deciding factor: The inpatient rehabilitation following an emergency stroke met the criteria for payment under 38 U.S.C. § 1725 and VA regulations due to documented attempts made for transfer to a VA facility.
- Claimed conditions
- Stroke
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 14, 2019
- Citation
- 19146784
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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 claim for service connection of the cause of death to obtain a complete TERA memorandum and a VA examination opinion.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various disabilities, including a low back disability, neck disability, nerve damage of the neck, back, and hip, liver cirrhosis, stroke, migraines, ovarian disability, heart disability, seizure disorder, and right ear disability.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for heart problem, sleep apnea, diabetes, stroke, tinnitus, GERD, and hypertension as new and relevant evidence was not received to support the claims.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for hypertension, migraine headaches, and sleep apnea, but denied a rating in excess of 10 percent for tinnitus.
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