Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 114 Part 3.djvu/1075

 PUBLIC LAW 106-475—NOV. 9, 2000 114 STAT. 2097 claim. As part of that notice, the Secretary shall indicate which portion of that information and evidence, if any, is to be provided by the claimant and which portion, if any, the Secretary, in accordance with section 5103A of this title and any other applicable provisions of law, will attempt to obtain on behalf of the claimant. "(b) TIME LIMITATION.—(1) In the case of information or evidence that the claimant is notified under subsection (a) is to be provided by the claimant, if such information or evidence is not received by the Secretary within 1 year from the date of such notification, no benefit may be paid or furnished by reason of the claimant's application. "(2) This subsection shall not apply to any application or claim for Government life insurance benefits. "(a) DUTY TO ASSIST.—(1) The Secretary shall make reasonable efforts to assist a claimant in obtaining evidence necessary to substantiate the claimant's claim for a benefit under a law administered by the Secretary. "(2) The Secretary is not required to provide assistance to a claimant under this section if no reasonable possibility exists that such assistance would aid in substantiating the claim. "(3) The Secretary may defer providing assistance under this section pending the submission by the claimant of essential information missing from the claimant's application. "(b) ASSISTANCE IN OBTAINING RECORDS. —(1) As part of the assistance provided under subsection (a), the Secretary shall make reasonable efforts to obtain relevant records (including private records) that the claimant adequately identifies to the Secretary and authorizes the Secretary to obtain. "(2) Whenever the Secretary, after making such reasonable efforts, is unable to obtain all of the relevant records sought, the Secretary shall notify the claimant that the Secretary is unable to obtain records with respect to the claim. Such a notification shall— "(A) identify the records the Secretary is unable to obtain; "(B) briefly explain the efforts that the Secretary made to obtain those records; and "(C) describe any further action to be taken by the Secretary with respect to the claim. "(3) Whenever the Secretary attempts to obtain records from a Federal department or agency under this subsection or subsection (c), the efforts to obtain those records shall continue until the records are obtained unless it is reasonably certain that such records do not exist or that further efforts to obtain those records would be futile. " (c) OBTAINING RECORDS FOR COMPENSATION CLAIMS.— In the case of a claim for disability compensation, the assistance provided by the Secretary under subsection (b) shall include obtaining the following records if relevant to the claim: "(1) The claimant's service medical records and, if the claimant has furnished the Secretary information sufficient to locate such records, other relevant records pertaining to the claimant's active military, naval, or air service that are held or maintained by a governmental entity. "(2) Records of relevant medical treatment or examination of the claimant at Department health-care facilities or at the
 * § 5103A. Duty to assist claimants

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