WASHINGTON –The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today it has reached a significant milestone in the overall Legacy Appeals Resolution Plan with the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) completing actions on nearly all non-remand legacy appeals as of July 4.
The non-remand inventory includes Notices of Disagreement (NODs) and substantive appeals filed with VBA in the legacy system before passage of the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017 (AMA).
“Prior to implementing the AMA, the overall VA-wide legacy appeals inventory was more than 400,000,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “From February 2019 to the present — VBA, the Board of Veterans’ Appeals and Veterans Health Administration have worked collectively to reduce the numbers to less than 200,000 — a more than 50% reduction.”
In conjunction with hitting this milestone, VBA’s Appeals Management Office will be known as the Office of Administrative Review (OAR). Under the new name, OAR will work to reduce VBA’s legacy remand inventory, administer VBA’s higher-level review program and oversee VBA’s Decision Review Operations Centers, which processes AMA higher-level reviews, higher-level review returns, and Board remands and grants.
VA continues to be on target to meet the goal of resolving legacy appeals under the Legacy Appeals Resolution Plan by December 2022.
Visit Appeals Modernization for more information.
Reporters and media outlets with questions or comments should contact the Office of Media Relations at vapublicaffairs@va.gov
Veterans with questions about their health care and benefits (including GI Bill). Questions, updates and documents can be submitted online.
Veterans can also use our chatbot to get information about VA benefits and services. The chatbot won’t connect you with a person, but it can show you where to go on VA.gov to find answers to some common questions.
Subscribe today to receive these news releases in your inbox.
More from the Press Room
News Releases
VA processed more than two million disability benefits claims for Veterans in fiscal year 2026 as of June 1, 2026, faster than ever before.
News Releases
VA deploys new Federal Electronic Health Record system at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center, Chillicothe VA Medical Center, Dayton VA Medical Center, and the Cincinnati VA Medical Center-Fort Thomas.
News Releases
VA streamlines the process of purchasing prosthetic limbs to more efficiently serve thousands of Veterans who receive prosthetics through the VA every year.
