The US Supreme Court sided with the government in saying that veterans can’t seek disability benefits if they miss the one-year deadline to do so.
The unanimous decision, the first ruling of the term, was authored by Justice Amy Coney Barrett and affirmed a lower court ruling that found veterans were categorically prohibited from bringing such claims even if the delay was caused by their service-connected injury.
Navy veteran Adolfo Arellano says his schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other mental health conditions linked to a deadly collision on an aircraft carrier prevented him from filing for retroactive benefits within the one-year statute of limitations.
“Congress opted for rules in this statutory scheme, and an equitable extension of [the] 1-year grace period would disrupt that choice,” Barrett wrote for the court.
The case is Arellano v. McDonough, U.S., No. 21-432.
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