" See 75 Fed . Reg . 39843 - 52 ( July 13 , 2010 ) . Thus , new and material evidence is not necessary to reach the merits of the claim . See Spencer v . Brown , 4 Vet . App . 283 ( 1993 ) . Additionally , new and material evidence was received with the time to appeal a December 2010 rating decision in the form of a July 2011 private treatment record . Thus , it is considered as if filed with the August 2010 claim pending at that time . See 38 C . F . R . § 3 . 156 ( b ) . For clarity , and although the April 2012 rating decision reflects that the agency of