Effective dates are the specific dates that the VA decided to acknowledge a condition as service-connected. You can find them on your VA disability benefits award letter, ratings sheet, or e-benefits image (from va.gov). Recently, the VA made some updates to effective dates – so we'll be covering them in a few blogs to keep veterans in the know about what this means for their benefits.
In this blog, we'll go over the VA's general guidance on assignment of effective dates and also effective dates based on a change of law or regulation.
Here's what veterans should know:
How effective dates are determined
We've covered the details of effective dates before (see this blog here), but in case you need some background – we'll go over how effective dates are determined by the VA first. Typically, effective dates are determined simply by the date the claim was filed or the onset of the service connection, whichever came later.
When it comes to effective dates, two different categories apply to veterans:
Continuously pursued claims:Â When the Veteran receives a decision and continuously chooses one of the options on the letter to disagree with the decision, or wants to add more evidence to the claim.Â
Supplemental claims received after the closing date of a claim: Claims filed after that one year mark. Â
According to the VA's 38CFR, effective dates for continuously pursued claims are the date of receipt of the initial claim or date entitlement arose (whichever is later). For supplemental claims, the effective date is the date entitlement arose (but will not be earlier than the date of receipt of the supplemental claim).
Recent updates to effective dates
The VA is always adding and changing information. Here's a few new updates to effective dates that can be found in the M21-1 Part V, Subpart ii, Chapter 4, Section A - Effective Dates. We'll be covering sections 1 and 6.
Section 1: The VA's general guidance on assignment of effective dates
Beyond what we've already listed above, you'll find the VA's general guidance on assigning effective dates in our previous blog here. If you want to read it right from the source, you can find the info in the VA's M21-1 section V.ii.4.A.1.h.Â
Section 6: Effective dates based on a change of law or regulation
This updated section addresses how effective dates are decided when new guidance is put in place, such as changes in the law, and awarding retroactive benefits based on a law change. Basically, this update allows for liberalizing laws (laws that bring substantive change in the law creating a new and different entitlement to a benefit) to have an impact on the effective dates – meaning they could either move them up or push them back.
Retroactive benefits can now be awarded based on law changes. This can involve cases with still pending or previously denied claims. So, this is good news for some veterans.
For example, if the criteria changes and the veteran qualifies for a higher rating based on the new criteria, they will need to file a claim for an increase. The VA will not go back and increase these on their own. This is why keeping up with rating changes is a good idea for veterans.
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