WASHINGTON (CN) - The Department of Veterans Affairs must assist claimants in substantiating their claims for vocational rehabilitation or employment benefits by informing them of additional evidence or information needed and helping them obtain it, according to a proposed VA regulation.
Under the rule, the VA would have to assist each claimant until there is "no reasonable possibility that further assistance would substantiate the claim."
When a claimant has not responded to the VA's notification of what it needs, the VA may decide the claim within 30 days of the notice. But, if the claimant later submits the items within a year of the notice, the VA must readjudicate the claim. A claimant may delay action beyond the 30 days by requesting that the VA wait while the claimant attempts to gather evidence.
Click on the document icon on the front page for details and other new regulations.
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