BVA9507967 DOCKET NO. 93-12 234 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Wichita, Kansas THE ISSUE Entitlement to a permanent and total disability evaluation for the purposes of non-service-connected pension. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Bernard T. DoMinh, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps from January 1968 to September 1969. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a February 1993 rating decision by the Wichita, Kansas, Regional Office (RO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), which denied the veteran's claim for a permanent and total disability evaluation for the purposes of non-service- connected pension. REMAND The file indicates the veteran's VA pension claim is well grounded, meaning not inherently implausible, and there is a further VA duty to assist him in developing facts pertinent to his claim. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(a) (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.103(a), 3.159 (1994); Murphy v. Derwinski; 1 Vet.App. 78 (1990). The Board agrees with the veteran's representative, that the case must be remanded for additional development. In his September 1992 VA pension claim and subsequent correspondence, the veteran related that he last worked in July 1987, at which time he had a back injury, and his primary disabilities involve back and cardiovascular conditions. In February 1993, the RO received a copy of a letter that the veteran wrote to a senator. In it, the veteran reported that in 1987 he injured his back, and that, in 1990 he applied for Social Security Administration (SSA) disability benefits and Supplemental Security Income at an office in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. He said he then moved to Kansas in 1991, and, in September 1992 again applied for SSA benefits at an office in Salina, Kansas. He said he submitted medical records to the SSA in Salina at that time. He further reported that, pursuant to his claim for SSA benefits, he was physically examined on October 31, 1992, and was given a mental evaluation on December 18, 1992. He stated that he had been informed by SSA that a decision regarding his claim for benefits had been made, although he did not know the outcome and had been told that another SSA examination would be required. In his April 1993 substantive appeal, the veteran reported that he had two EKG examinations performed on him by the VA, both of which revealed abnormal findings. He further reported that he had a VA examination on April 7, 1993. The various records referred to by the veteran, including SSA and VA records, are relevant to his VA pension claim, are not currently in his claims folder, and should be obtained pursuant to the VA's duty to assist. Murincsak v. Derwinski, 2 Vet.App. 363 (1992). It is also the judgment of the Board that, although the veteran was given a VA pension examination in January 1993, another one should be provided which takes into account the historical medical records. Green v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 121 (1991). In view of the foregoing, the case is REMANDED to the RO for the following development: 1. The RO should contact the SSA and obtain copies of all medical records in possession of that agency, as well as a copy of the SSA decision on the veteran's SSA claim. 2. The RO should have the veteran clearly identify (names, addresses, dates) all other sources (VA or non-VA) of medical treatment or examination from 1987 to the present. The RO should directly contact the sources and obtain the medical records, following the procedures of 38 C.F.R. § 3.159. 3. After the above records have been obtained and added to the claims folder, the veteran should undergo a VA pension examination to evaluate the nature and severity of all disabilities. The veteran's claims folder should be made available to and reviewed by the examiner before the examination. 4. Thereafter, the RO should review the claim for a permanent and total disability rating for pension purposes. The RO should do a rating decision which assigns percentage evaluations for all disabilities, and the RO should then decide whether the veteran satisfies either the objective (average person) or subjective (unemployability) test for a permanent and total disability rating. See, e.g., Talley v. Derwinski, 2 Vet.App. 282 (1992); Brown v. Derwinski, 2 Vet.App. 444 (1992). If the claim is denied, the veteran and his representative should be issued a supplemental statement of the case and given an opportunity to respond. Then the case should be returned to the Board. L. W. TOBIN Member, Board of Veterans' Appeals The Board of Veterans' Appeals Administrative Procedures Improvement Act, Pub. L. No. 103-271, § 6, 108 Stat. 740, ___ (1994), permits a proceeding instituted before the Board to be assigned to an individual member of the Board for a determination. This proceeding has been assigned to an individual member of the Board. Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 1991), only a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States Court of Veterans Appeals. This remand is in the nature of a preliminary order and does not constitute a decision of the Board on the merits of your appeal. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b) (1994).