The department had limited the enrollment to the most recent six years for combat-related compensation.
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled this month that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) unfairly limited financial payments for veterans eligible for a Congressional-enacted program.
The department had enacted a policy capping enrollment in this program at six years, disqualifying veterans who could file claims from more than six years ago. However, the Supreme Court found that the federal law enacting this program did not specify such a time limit and ordered the VA to provide back pay for 9,000 newly qualified veterans.
“It is not extraordinary to think that Congress wished to forgo a limitations period,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in the high court’s decision.
“Further, the statute clearly authorizes the secretary concerned to determine claimants’ eligibility according to specific criteria, and those criteria say nothing about time limits,” Justice Thomas added.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Secretary Collins and VA Department personnel as they catch up on the enrollments for the special combat compensation.
- For the justices of the Supreme Court as take their summer recess.
Sources: Military Times, Stars and Stripes
