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Denied

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of medical expenses incurred from March 7 to 9, 2013, at Parma Community General Hospital due to the Veteran having coverage under a health-care plan at the time of treatment and not exhausting all remedies against his health-care plan.

The deciding factor: The Board found that without evidence establishing what portion of the expenses were paid by the Veteran's health-care plan or if any portion was not covered, VA could not make payment on the claim. Additionally, subsequent to the December 2019 remand, the Federal Circuit ruled that a deductible is considered a 'similar payment' under 38 U.S.C. § 1725(c)(4), thus prohibiting reimbursement for such expenses.

Claimed conditions
Not specified in this decision
How they argued it
Not specified
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
None in this decision
Decision date
November 29, 2024
Citation
24033613

Veterans Law Judge

MICHAEL A. HERMAN

Decisions by this judge: 2,036 · 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 24033613.

What this means for you

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