The Board denied the Veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of unauthorized medical expenses incurred during a non-VA hospitalization at Kaweah Delta Medical Center on June 26, 2017. The decision states that VA facilities were feasibly available and an attempt to use them beforehand would have been considered reasonable by a prudent layperson.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran could have visited the Fresno VAMC within a reasonable distance (1 hour, 16 minutes) from his home on June 23rd or 24th, and this facility was capable of treating his right wrist disorder.
- Claimed conditions
- Right wrist arthralgia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 7, 2020
- Citation
- 20045095
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 20045095.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
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