Source: https://helpdesk.vetsfirst.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=2814
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 16:20:50+00:00

Document:
In addition to compensation based on the degree of disability, Congress has also authorized additional compensation for certain disabilities. This "special monthly compensation" ("SMC") is intended to compensate claimants for service-connected conditions that involve loss of use or anatomical loss (amputation) of body parts, such as hands or feet, or loss of hearing or sight. SMC can result in significantly more monthly compensation for severely injured veterans.
While a scheduler rating depends on the severity of a condition, SMC for loss of use does not depend on the degree of loss, except that the loss of use must be permanent. The more seriously disabled veteran may be eligible for SMC payments for combinations of anatomical loss or loss of use. In addition, severely disabled veterans may be awarded further compensation for regular aid and attendance needs and for permanent housebound conditions. As SMC has many possible combinations and involves a significant amount of additional compensation, VETSFIRST recommends that severely injured veterans get help in filing their SMC claims from someone experienced in such cases.
"Special Montly Compensation (SMC) is available when, 'as the result of service-connected disability,' a veteran suffers additional hardships above and beyond those contemplated by VA's schedule for rating disabilities." Breniser v. Shinseki, 25 Vet. App. 64, 68 (2011) (citing 38 U.S.C. § 1114(k)(s)). The Board's determination as to whether a veteran is entitled to SMC is a finding of fact that the Court reviews under the "clearly erroneous" standard of review. Id. (citing Prejean v. West, 13 Vet. App. 444, 447 (2000); Turco v. Brown, 9 Vet. App. 222, 224 (1996)). Section 1114( l ) provides, in pertinent part: if the veteran, as the result of service-connected disability, has suffered the anatomical loss or loss of use of both feet, or of one hand and one foot, or is blind in both eyes, with 5/200 visual acuity or less, or is permanently bedridden or with such significant disabilities as to be in need of regular aid and attendance, the monthly compensation shall be $3,075. 38 U.S.C. § 1114(l).
VA has promulgated regulations implementing section 1114 relevant to the determination of whether a veteran "is so helpless as to be in need of regular aid and attendance are contained in § 3.352(a)." 38 C.F.R. § 3.350(b)(3); see 38 C.F.R. § 3.351(c)(3) (providing that a claimant is entitled to SMC based on the need for aid and attendance by establishing "a factual need for aid and attendance under the criteria set forth in [38 C.F.R. § 3.352(a)].").
The Court has held that the order in which disabilities are service connected is not relevant to VA's determination of a claimant's eligibility for special monthly compensation under 38 U.S.C. section 1114(s). Whenever a veteran has a total disability rating, schedular or extraschedular, based on multiple disabilities and the veteran is subsequently awarded service connection for any additional disability or disabilities, VA's duty to maximize benefits requires VA to assess all of the claimant's disabilities without regard to the order in which they were service connected to determine whether any combination of the disabilities establishes entitlement to special monthly compensation under section 1114(s). If, after such an assessment, VA determines that the claimant is entitled to special monthly compensation, the effective date of the award of special monthly compensation will be the effective date assigned for the award of benefits for the final disability that forms the relevant combination of disabilities. Buie v. Shinseki, 24 Vet. App. 242, 250-51 (2010), as amended (Apr. 21, 2011).
and a need for regular aid and attendance with activities of daily living or a higher level of careall of which must be a result of the veteran's service-connected disabilities.
Ratings under SMC(S) are also available if the veteran is permanently housebound. The VA defines "permanently housebound" as being substantially (as opposed to completely) confined to a dwelling as the result of service-connected disability and it is reasonably certain that that such disability will continue throughout the veteran's lifetime. These kinds of determinations should be made by a physician, whose written opinions or reports in this respect would serve as the best evidence to submit in support of a claim for "s" SMC benefits.

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