There’s now an end date for resolving legacy appeals pending across the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The VA announced on Tuesday that it expects to complete its remaining legacy appeals by the end of calendar year 2022.
A legacy appeal is a disagreement with a VA benefits decision made before Feb. 19, 2019. That’s when the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017 (AMA) went into effect.
AMA created a new appeals system with three review options: A higher-level review by a more senior claims adjudicator; a supplemental claim option for new and relevant evidence; and an appeal option for review by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals
“AMA has been in place for almost a year and we are finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel for the resolution of legacy appeals,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie in a release.
The Board of Veterans Appeals will continue to work appeals from the Veterans Benefits Administration, Veterans Health Administration, and National Cemetery Administration.
The Veterans Appeals Board says it handed down 95,089 decisions in Fiscal Year 2019, which ended Oct. 1. That's 5,000 more decisions than the VA's goal and about 11 percent more than last year -- the previous record high, according to VA.
Under the new framework, veterans can choose the appeals option that meets their needs. AMA also includes safeguards to ensure claimants receive the earliest effective dates possible for their claims.
Veterans who are waiting for their decisions are encouraged to check the status of their appeal via the appeals status tracker.
VA says it set record with more than 95,000 appeals decisions in 2019