But VA Hqtrs apparently has no control over the actions of 57 Regional Offices
In a letter supposedly written December 8, but received by fax December 12, the office of Veterans Affairs for Benefits tells The Honorable Kirsten Gillibrand, member of the House Armed Services Committee, that they released a policy statement to all Regional offices in September clearly explaining the procedure for dealing with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) compensation claims, which are being illegally held by the ROs under the Haas Stay.
BWNVVA then provided Congresswoman Gillibrand's office a letter written by the Waco Regional Office, dated November 17, informing a veteran that they have not "received any instruction yet on the out come of the case Haas v Nicholson, ... and as soon as clarification is disseminated..." they will process his NHL claim. We are wondering if perhaps the policy release was shredded... or maybe mishandled by the mailroom?
ANY VETERAN WITH A VALID NHL CLAIM:
Print this letter, take it with you or include it in a mailing to your Regional Office with a demand for immediate release and adjudication of your claim. We've shaken the tree and if this doesn't free things up, I don't know what will.
If this affects you, please let us know. Also, please let us know if you have any trouble with compliance by your RO. We'd like to start collecting some data on how widespread the affect of this is.
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From: Paul E. Travis [mailto:poppy0200@hotmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, December 13, 2008 9:18 AM
Subject: VA CLARIFIES RULE ON SERVICE CONNECTION FOR NON-HODGKIN'S LYMPHOMA
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfdec08/nf121308-4.htm
It seems that the VA has been turning down claims for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) that have been submitted by "Blue Water Navy" veterans.
It appears the confusion lies in the fact that NHL is included in the list of presumptives for "boots on the ground" Vietnam veterans. That list here... http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/benefits/herbicide/
But, "Blue Water Navy" vets, at this time, do not qualify for those presumptives because their claims are being held up as the VA argues the Haas case in Court. More on Haas here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=haas&op=and
Now, we have a clarification on the rules for NHL that allows the claims of "Blue Water Navy" vets to move forward.
Thanks to John Paul Rossie and the good folks at BlueWaterNavy.org for providing this information. Website is here...
http://www.bluewaternavy.org/
From the CFR we find:
Title 38: Pensions, Bonuses, and Veterans' Relief
PART 3—ADJUDICATION
Subpart A—Pension, Compensation, and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation
Ratings and Evaluations; Service Connection
Browse Previous | Browse Next
§ 3.313 Claims based on service in Vietnam.
(a) Service in Vietnam. Service in Vietnam includes service in the waters offshore, or service in other locations if the conditions of service involved duty or visitation in Vietnam.
(b) Service connection based on service in Vietnam. Service in Vietnam during the Vietnam Era together with the development of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma manifested subsequent to such service is sufficient to establish service connection for that disease.
(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501)
[55 FR 43124, Oct. 26, 1990]
And, Rossie supplies this letter of explanation from Adm. Dunne, head of the Veterans' Benefits Administration. Letter here...
Rossie also gives advice to those who have a valid NHL claim on this page... http://bluewaternavy.org/NHL/lettersonNHL.htm
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posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
Saturday, December 13, 2008
From Colonel Dan and VA Watchdog
