The Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to November 9, 2009 for service connection for lumbar stenosis was denied.,The Veteran's appeal regarding the correct amount of retroactive benefits following the November 2014 rating decision was also denied.
The deciding factor: The assignment of an earlier effective date is not warranted as the date of entitlement precedes the date of the reopened claim. The effective date based on an award of service connection is not based on the date of the earliest medical evidence demonstrating a causal connection, but on the date that the application upon which service connection was eventually awarded was filed with VA.,The Veteran was paid the correct amount of retroactive benefits following the November 2014 rating decision. The effective date for the award of service connection for lumbar stenosis is November 9, 2009.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar stenosis, degenerative arthritis of the spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 60%
- Decision date
- August 17, 2020
- Citation
- 20054427
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 20054427.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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The Veteran's appeal was dismissed due to their death during the pendency of the appeal.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for degenerative arthritis of the spine was granted. The claims for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea and residuals of head injuries and concussions are remanded.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal for earlier effective date for Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) prior to August 8, 2024, and dependency benefits from June 1, 2025, to August 8, 2025, for the school-aged child are both denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to errors in obtaining relevant treatment records and inadequate VA medical opinions regarding secondary service connection.
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