The Board denied the Veteran's request for payment or reimbursement of unauthorized medical expenses incurred during a non-VA hospitalization at Medical Center of Trinity on January 10, 2018 due to the availability of VA facilities that were feasibly available and could have provided care.
The deciding factor: The Board found that VA facilities were feasibly available for the Veteran's condition and thus did not meet the criteria for payment or reimbursement under 38 U.S.C. § 1728.
- Claimed conditions
- Left knee pain, Left calf pain, Varicosities of the left leg
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- November 14, 2019
- Citation
- 19185467
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,156 · Granted: 29% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19185467.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's appeal for payment of non-VA medical services provided on April 11, 2018, is denied because the care was not authorized by VA and did not meet the criteria for emergency treatment.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, right wrist pain, left wrist pain, right knee pain, left knee pain, and a traumatic brain injury as the evidence did not support that these conditions were incurred in or aggravated by active military service.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied service connection for multiple conditions, including traumatic brain injury (TBI), pain of cervical and cervicothoracic regions, radicular pain and hypoesthesia of left upper extremity, pain and dysfunction of lumbar spine, right sciatic radicular pain, left sciatic radicular pain, right hip pain, left hip pain, right knee pain, left knee pain, post traumatic residual pain of right foot, and bilateral hearing loss.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection, finding that his symptoms did not meet the criteria for higher disability ratings.
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