Smc Pay

[Chuck75]

The VA should have considered SMC if the claim met the 100%+60 requirements.

[Berta]

Right. And if they didnt, they committed a CUE,if the established medical evidence warranted it.

SMC consideration is mandated by statute.

I am sure my successful SMC CUE claim is here somewhere...dont know if the IHD claim is here

The decision was made in 1998.I filed 2 CUEs in 2004, alleging 4 major legal errors based on established medical evidence VA had in 1998.

Failure to acknowledge and rate 1151 IHD

Failure to properly consider SMC

Failure to proper rate my husband's 1151 stroke and

Failure to provide proper diagnostic codes.....

Awarded 2012.

[Chuck75]

SMC consideration failure was the primary subject of a recent "Bob" Email.

The result was an SMC rating and retro payment within 30 days of the Email.

[Kgosi]

I would definitely look at the CUE (Clear and Unmistakable Error) possibility. File an appeal if need be. Otherwise consider the following.

Your award in 2001 has no bearing on Aid and Attendance in 2011 as it is a separate issue. This assumes no errors were made by the VA on the 2001 claim. The VA will make retroactive payments to your date of claim. Keep in mind you can have informal and formal dates of claim. Example: You call the VA on March 1, 2011 and state you want to apply for A&A. March 1, 2011 is your informal date of claim. You now have one year to submit a formal claim to preserve the March 1, 2011 date of claim. If VA does not receive the formal application before March 1, 2012 then you start over.

If you properly submitted a formal claim in 2011 then the VA will pay starting the first of the month after they received your formal claim. Example: You mailed your application and the VA received the claim on March 11, 2011, Assuming your award is granted the VA will start paying benefits as of April 1, 2011.

I am concerned that your claim has been pending since 2011. Is there a particular reason it is taking so long? Are you sure your claim is still active? With the exception of Philadelphia, the pension centers are fairly current in the processing of applications. I would call 1-800-827-1000 to ask what the delay is.

Often, A&A requires additional development and the VA will send you a development letter asking for specific information. If you do not reply within 30 days they will make a decision (probably denying) on your claim. No big deal as you have one year from the date of your claim (if submitted on an EZ form), or one year from the date of the VA's development letter to submit the requested information in order to receive entitlement from the earliest date. Once that time limit has passed, you would need to submit a new claim and start over.

FYI - The VA's responsibility of "Duty to Assist" is diminished when filing an EZ form. The instructions within the form state that you are submitting all of the evidence you have pertaining to the claim. Therefore, the VA does not need to develop for most issues as you have already stated you have no additional information. So, the VA makes a decision based off of what they have in front of them. Essentially, this is called a Fully Developed Claim (FDC). Be careful filing this type of claim. They tell you these claims are processed faster, and they do take priority over other claims, but there is a downside as well.