Page:Arellano v. McDonough.pdf/11

8 the default rule, illustrates the point. Recall that §5110(b)(1), the exception at issue here, adjusts the effective date of disability compensation to the day after a veteran’s discharge from the military, so long as the VA receives the claim within one year of discharge. Arellano contends that his claim, filed 30 years after discharge, should relate back to the date of discharge because his disability prevented him from filing earlier than he did. But §5110(b)(4), which applies to disability pensions rather than disability compensation, expressly accounts for this very concern: It makes pension benefits retroactive to the date of permanent and total disability if the disability prevented the veteran from applying for an award at the time of onset. §§§ [sic]5110(b)(4)(A), (B). The possibility that disability could cause delay was therefore on Congress’s radar; still, Congress did not explicitly account for it in §5110(b)(1). Moreover, while Arellano posits an open-ended grace period for §5110(b)(1), §5110(b)(4)(A) imposes a restrictive one: It applies only “if the veteran applies for a retroactive award within one year” of “the date on which the veteran became permanently and totally disabled.” Why would Congress allow an unlimited grace period for an equitable concern unmentioned in §5110(b)(1) when it established a limited grace period for the same concern explicitly mentioned in §5110(b)(4)? Tolling §5110(b)(1) would single it out for special treatment; enforcing its terms keeps it consistent with the statutory scheme.

The most compelling argument for equitable tolling is that hard and fast limits on retroactive benefits can create harsh results. The statutory default ties the start of benefits to the application-receipt date, a choice that incentivizes promptness and disfavors retroactive awards. The exceptions granting a 1-year grace period soften that choice in specified circumstances, yet there are situations in which equity’s flexible, open-ended approach would be more generous to a deserving claimant. With this in mind, Congress