The Veteran was entitled to payment or reimbursement for medical expenses incurred due to an emergency at a non-VA facility because VA facilities were not feasibly available and he had a permanent and total disability rating.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's condition required immediate medical attention as it manifested severe symptoms, and VA facilities were not feasible given the distance from his address and the emergent nature of his condition.
- Claimed conditions
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- October 4, 2023
- Citation
- 23054863
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 23054863.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was not caused or contributed to by service or a service-connected disability. The Board denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death as there was no evidence of herbicide exposure during service and no other link between the Veteran's death and his military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's death was not service connected due to lack of evidence linking his conditions to service, and there is no presumption of exposure to herbicide agents (Agent Orange). The Board found the evidence did not support a grant of service connection for any condition that caused or contributed to the Veteran's death.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the cause of death (CHF, laryngeal cancer, and COPD) is not related to service. The case is being remanded for further development including obtaining in-patient records from Camp Carson, Colorado, verifying asbestos exposure during service, and obtaining a new VA medical opinion.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal for a higher rating for asthma with COPD was denied due to the untimely filing of his VA Form 9. The Board also found that there is no earlier effective date prior to August 12, 2015, for the grant of a 60 percent rating.
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