The Board continues to closely monitor and analyze resolution rate trends under both the Legacy system and the AMA so that stakeholders can better compare the two systems and assess the overall merits and effectiveness of the AMA system when compared to the Legacy system. The graph below demonstrates that remand rates under the AMA appeals system are consistently about 18% lower than under the Legacy appeals system and that grant rates under the AMA appeals system are consistently almost 10% higher than under the older Legacy system during the past six years, all while denial rates are relatively unchanged.

Legacy and AMA Disposition Rate Averages from FY 2019-FY 2025:

However, the noted increase in granted relief at the Board only tells part of the story. One goal of AMA was to allow Veterans to “appeal first” to the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA), essentially giving them the chance to have an initial denial reconsidered with new evidence (supplemental claim) or without new evidence (Higher Level Review) new evidence before seeking a Board appeal. The much lower appeal rates to the Board under AMA and increasing percentage of Veterans instead seeking the newer and faster review options at VBA are encouraging evidence that these expanded Veteran choices are providing more timely and effective final resolution for Veterans. For example, even though the overall number of AMA claims is steadily rising at VBA each year, the appeal rate to the Board for AMA cases is steadily dropping. During FY 2021, 17% of Veterans appealed to the Board for relief under AMA and that percentage is now down to 7-8% during FY 2025 and FY 2026.

The most notable improvement in AMA vs. Legacy is the significant reduction in the time it takes to fully resolve a Veteran’s appeal before the Board. AMA was intended to improve the very long wait times to fully resolve claims and appeals under the Legacy system, which took an average of 7-10 years prior to the AMA’s passage in 2017. Though it has taken longer than anticipated to fully realize the much shorter wait times anticipated under AMA, data from the high percentage of Board AMA appeals being decided in recent years now firmly establish that AMA appeals are being fully resolved (with no remaining remands) approximately 5-6 years faster than it takes to fully resolve Legacy appeals (no remaining remands).

The graph below demonstrates the AMA system delivers a final resolution for Veterans at least 5-6 years faster than cases under the Legacy system appeals because of the much higher rates of legally-required remands under the latter system. Legacy cases continue languish because of their procedural challenges that pre-date AMA, while AMA cases are being fully resolved in an average of less than 2 years compared to the longstanding historical average of 7-10 years for the older Legacy system appeals.

* Excludes decisions with remanded issues.
** Legacy ADC = Average time (years) from filing of appeal (VA Form 9) to Board until final Board decision.
*** AMA ADC = Average time (years) from Notice of Disagreement (VA Form 10182) to Board of Veterans’ Appeals until final Board decision.

The Average Days to Complete (ADC) for AMA cases rose significantly during FY 2024, however, that increase was only because the Board was adjudicating all those AMA appeals that had waited the longest. Both the Average Days Pending (ADP) and ADC for AMA cases crested and started to drop considerably during the last six months of FY 2024 and AMA resolutions are getting exponentially faster because the Board has already adjudicated all those older AMA appeals. (See “More Board Personnel Address Pending AMA Appeals and Wait Times”)