Filing for SMC higher than K

[godelocs]

Is there a specific form which should be used to file for SMC higher than K?  If a veteran meets the criteria for s or r how does the veteran go about requesting consideration for receiving the SMC.  Are there any tips for do's and don'ts when filing for SMC?

[Chuck75]

8 hours ago, godelocs said:

Is there a specific form which should be used to file for SMC higher than K?  If a veteran meets the criteria for s or r how does the veteran go about requesting consideration for receiving the SMC.  Are there any tips for do's and don'ts when filing for SMC?

That's the same question I had a bit over a year ago before the VA revised the claim process!  The VA gave me the generic "file a NOD" answer. Since "S" was involved, and consideration was (at that time) supposedly automatic and mandatory, it likely fell under CUE. Rather than wait for all that to happen, I elected to use a nuclear option (Email "Bob")  As to the gory details, that will depend upon the exact case.   There is a section here on hadit and on http://www.vawatchdog.org/ concerning SMC.  It's also worth looking at the SMC tables that apply. When SMC K amounts are involved, you can run into a limit set by the SMC "L" amount, as well as a limit in the number of "K" individual awards.

 

[FormerMember]

File a request for SMC (of any level) on a standard 21-526EZ. If possible, have your doctor or the VA fill out a VA Form 21-2680 which will inventory the amount/degree of your deficits for compensation purposes. Chuck points out that the VA "should" be aware of your predicament via your ratings but they are not proactive nor self-starters. With the backlog and helter skelter activity currently afoot at most ROs, you sometimes have to grab them by the ears yourself. 

Being 100%, you are Priority One in VA medicaland. This should ensure getting an appt. in a reasonable time. Print up and take a 2680 with you to the exam. Fill in only what you can attest to personally that comes to you via your five senses. Leave the rest for the gomers to fill out. Here's the link to the form:

526ez http://www.vba.va.gov/pubs/forms/VBA-21-526EZ-ARE.pdf

2680  http://www.vba.va.gov/pubs/forms/VBA-21-2680-ARE.pdf

Bon chance

[Buck52]

What if you qualify for HB, SMC's

do you need to file a 21-526ez to request that? bases  on 160%  

Say a vet is 90% COMBINED RATING and awarded TDIU P&T  And Files for another contention and is awarded a 70% rating on that contention   do the raters automatically  rate the two together and see that this veteran is qualified for HB and award that  to? or is it best the veteran grabs them by the ears and applies for it on the 21-626ez?

 

....Buck

[FormerMember]

A very small codicil is attached to SMC S. You have to have either a TDIU or a 100% schedular rating to qualify for SMC S. If TDIU is awarded based on a combined rating of several different diseases/injuries, it is not a singular disability and you could not use that as the baseline to develop a SMC S entitlement. . 38 CFR 3.350(i) specifically says it has to be a single disability-not a combination of several that provokes TDIU. 

Now, if you get another singular disability of 70%, and it constitutes disability such that, all by itself, it is totally disabling, then that disability can stand in for the singular one and the sum of the earlier ratings, if they equal or exceed an additional 60%, satisfy the criteria for SMC S. The only prerequisite is that any of the additional disabilities that make up the additional 60% must be separate and distinct from the singular 100%/TDIU disability. 

Example. You have DM2 and a bunch of diseases like retinopathy and peripheral neuropathy that combine to 90%. You get TDIU. Then you get PTSD for 70%. The PTSD, all by itself, can be the predicate for TDIU and thus it frees up the DM2 family of diseases to build the additional 60% needed to get to SMC S.

Buie v. Shinseki is an example of how this works. http://asknod.org/2011/09/27/cavc-buie-5-v-shinseki-0-2011/ The order in which you receive your ratings has no bearing on whether you are entitled to SMC S. VA doesn't do a lot of research on this to ensure you get what you are entitled to- hence the ear pulling requirement.

[green]

excellent read, thanks asknod