Procopio, et. al. v. Secretary of Veterans Affairs – Navy Veterans Lose Expedited Review for Agent Orange Exposure During Vietnam War
NAVY VETERANS SEEK EXPEDITED REVIEW OF AGENT ORANGE CLAIMS
The Court of Appeals Federal Circuit, held in Procopio, et al. v. Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Court of Appeals Federal Circuit 12/08/2019) that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs has the authority to stay disability compensation claims until January 1, 2020. This is a disappointing case for Navy Veterans who served in the Vietnam war. Many Navy Veterans may not live to see the award of their benefits.
Alfred Procopio, Jr., Johnnie Harper, Michael Yates, Michael Kvintus, Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Association, Inc., and Military-Veterans Advocacy, Inc. (collectively, Petitioners) filed a petition for expedited review pursuant to 38 U.S.C. Section 502. They were challenging the authority of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to stay pending disability compensation claims until January 1, 2020, which is the day the Act will become effective.
FEDERAL COURT FINDS SECRETARY DOES NOT NEED TO REVIEW VETERANS CLAIMS UNTIL JANUARY 1, 2020
In this case, the individual petitioners are Blue Water Navy Veterans stationed on open sea ships off the Vietnamese shore during the Vietnam War. Following the Federal Circuit’s decision in Procopio v. Wilkie this year, many Blue Water Navy Veterans hoped they may be entitled to a presumption of service connection for diseases covered by 38 U.S.C. § 1116.2 913 F.3d 1371 (Fed. Cir. 2019)(en banc).
Their hope was further bolstered by Congress’ passing of the Agent Orange Act (Act). That Act provides relief for many veterans who, prior to the court’s Procopio decision, were without such relief.
But the Secretary’s decision to stay awarding of benefits pursuant to the Act posed new problems for Blue Water Navy Veterans. The Petitioners assert that many Navy Veterans from the Vietnam war are dying and may not live to see the benefits provided by the Act.
Petitioners filed for expedited review, challenging the Secretary’s authority to stay pending compensation claims until January 1, 2020. The Federal Circuit held that the Secretary had the authority, pursuant to Section 2(c)(3) of the Act, to stay such claims from the date of the Act’s enactment, until its effective date January 1, 2020. Thus, the court denied review.
HOW TO APPLY FOR SSDI AND SSI BENEFITS
If your medical conditions are such that they keep you from working for over a year, then you may be able to get monthly SSDI benefits. Applying for benefits with our help is simple. We will help you file your application for benefits online on Social Security’s website.
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Make sure to apply for SSD and SSI benefits as soon as you know that you are not going to be able to return to work. If you are already getting VA benefits, then you probably will not receive SSI benefits, because you might receive too much money from the VA. However, you can still apply for SSI benefits to see if you can get them. SSI benefits pay out from the date of your application and they come with Medicaid benefits. Additionally, benefits do not pay if your disability began after your date last insured. Learn more about the date last insured here.
With SSDI benefits, you can receive past due benefits one year prior to the date of your application. The opposite is true with SSI benefits. SSI benefits begin the day you apply and they do not go back prior to that date. If you do not apply quickly, you are losing benefits. Learn more about past due benefits here.
CONTACT CANNON DISABILITY LAW
If you need help with a claim for SSDI and SSI benefits, contact Cannon Disability Law today. We have won over $100 million in ongoing and past due benefits for our clients. In the past 30 years, we have won over 20,000 SSDI and SSI cases.
To find out more about Veteran’s disability benefits read here. Veterans who qualify for service connected disability benefits from the VA, also qualify for expedited review in the SSA system. This means you case goes through the process faster than other people who file for benefits at the same time you did. You can learn more information about how to get both veteran benefits and SSDI benefits here.
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