What it is
A supplemental claim is one of the three lanes in the VA's post-decision review system (AMA appeals). You file it when you have new and relevant evidence the VA didn't consider in your original decision.
"New and relevant", what it means
- New = wasn't before the VA when they decided your original claim.
- Relevant = tends to prove or disprove a fact necessary to your claim.
It doesn't have to be smoking-gun evidence. A new medical record, a buddy statement that wasn't submitted before, a private nexus letter you didn't have at the time, all qualify.
Effective date
If you file your supplemental claim within one year of the original denial, you keep the original effective date if you win. Miss the one-year window, and you get a new effective date based on when you filed the supplemental.
Three review lanes, which to pick
- Supplemental Claim (this guide), you have new evidence. VA's "duty to assist" reactivates.
- Higher-Level Review, no new evidence, but you think the VA made a clear factual or legal error.
- Board Appeal, you want a Veterans Law Judge to decide. Three sub-options (direct review, evidence submission, hearing).
What counts as new evidence
- Private medical records you didn't submit.
- A new C&P exam result (sometimes triggers automatically when you file).
- A nexus letter from a new provider.
- Buddy statements not in the original file.
- A DBQ completed by your private doctor.
- New service treatment records you obtained.
- Updated PACT Act presumptive coverage that didn't exist when you originally filed.
What does not count as new
- The same records the VA already had.
- Your personal disagreement with the decision (use Higher-Level Review for that).
- A doctor's note that repeats prior diagnoses without adding anything.
How to file
- VA Form 20-0995. Decision Review Request: Supplemental Claim.
- Identify the issue you want reviewed.
- List or attach the new evidence.
- File on VA.gov, by mail, or in person.
Continuous pursuit doctrine
If you keep filing supplemental claims within each one-year window after each denial, the VA treats your claim as continuously pursued, preserving your effective date the whole way back.