The Veteran's lumbar degenerative disc disease with facet arthropathy is rated at 20 percent, and the case is remanded for further development regarding service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder. The Veteran's eligibility for financial assistance for specially adapted housing or special home adaptation remains denied.
The deciding factor: The Veteran has a total evaluation of 50% due to his lumbar spine disability but does not meet the criteria for loss of use of either lower extremity, which is required for specially adapted housing grants.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar degenerative disc disease with facet arthropathy, acquired psychiatric disorder
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- December 13, 2019
- Citation
- 19193900
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,977 · Granted: 27% (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 19193900.
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.
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The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need for an addendum opinion regarding the nature and etiology of his unspecified neurocognitive disorder, which was diagnosed after a September 2021 heart surgery. The issues are about service connection on the merits.
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