On November 3, 1986, a Veteran who served in the RVN during h. Example 3 Situation: on Establishing the Vietnam era died from Hodgkin’s disease. His surviving spouse’s for a Retroactive DIC benefits was received on December 10, 1986, and denied on February Effective Date: 12, 1987. The surviving spouse reopened her claim on March 15, 1993. Claim for DIC Benefits Establish entitlement to DIC benefits from November 1, 1986, the Result: Received first day of the month in which the Veteran died. Within One Year of the the claim for DIC benefits was received within one year of Rationale: Veteran’s the Veteran’s death, the effective date is governed by . Death i. Handling Under a February 11, 1999, order by the District Court, a claim for disability Claims for a compensation or DIC that is received from a class member for a Nehmer Covered covered disease does not have to specifically mention herbicide exposure or Disease That assert that the condition was caused by exposure to herbicides in order to Do Not qualify as a claim. Nehmer Specifically Mention Herbicide Exposure There is no requirement that a class member file a new claim or a j. Claim Nehmer Requirements claim for an earlier effective date in order for VA to award a retroactive and Nehmer effective date under when a new presumptive condition is added by a Nehmer regulation. VA must search its records for rating decisions that denied SC for a covered disease or a disease that can reasonably be construed as a covered disease, and were completed to the effective date of the regulation that added presumptive SC for the covered disease. When evidence of decisions meeting the above criteria exists, VA will identify eligible claimants and award benefits, without action on the claimant’s part. Retroactive SC may still be awarded under the Important: Nehmer stipulation for a condition when a prior claim did not include an explicit claim for the condition in question, but the condition in question appears as a denial on the code of the rating decision, and the medical records show a diagnosis of the condition. A Veteran who served in the RVN during the Vietnam Era filed a k. Example: Situation: Establishing an claim in 1994, expressly alleging that his prostate cancer was caused by
h. Example 3 on Establishing a Retroactive Effective Date: Claim for DIC Benefits Received Within One Year of the Veteran’s Death Situation: On November 3, 1986, a Veteran who served in the RVN during the Vietnam era died from Hodgkin’s disease. His surviving spouse’s for DIC benefits was received on December 10, 1986, and denied on February 12, 1987. The surviving spouse reopened her claim on March 15, 1993. Result: Establish entitlement to DIC benefits from November 1, 1986, the first day of the month in which the Veteran died. Rationale: the claim for DIC benefits was received within one year of the Veteran’s death, the effective date is governed by . i. Handling Claims for a Covered Disease That Do Not Specifically Mention Herbicide Exposure Under a February 11, 1999, order by the District Court, a claim for disability compensation or DIC that is received from a Nehmer class member for a covered disease does not have to specifically mention herbicide exposure or assert that the condition was caused by exposure to herbicides in order to qualify as a Nehmer claim. j. Claim Requirements and Nehmer There is no requirement that a Nehmer class member file a new claim or a claim for an earlier effective date in order for VA to award a retroactive effective date under Nehmer when a new presumptive condition is added by a regulation. VA must search its records for rating decisions that denied SC for a covered disease or a disease that can reasonably be construed as a covered disease, and were completed to the effective date of the regulation that added presumptive SC for the covered disease. When evidence of decisions meeting the above criteria exists, VA will identify eligible claimants and award benefits, without action on the claimant’s part. Important: Retroactive SC may still be awarded under the Nehmer stipulation for a condition when a prior claim did not include an explicit claim for the condition in question, but the condition in question appears as a denial on the code of the rating decision, and the medical records show a diagnosis of the condition. k. Example: Establishing an Situation: A Veteran who served in the RVN during the Vietnam Era filed a claim in 1994, expressly alleging that his prostate cancer was caused by
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