Some of you had questions on Bradley vs Peake and its affect on SMC S.
Here is VA's Fast letter, 09-33
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Compensation and Pension Service Fast Letter 09-33: Special Monthly Compensation at the Statutory Housebound Rate 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s) provides that SMC at the (s) rate will be granted if a veteran has a serviceconnected disability rated as total, and (1) has additional service-connected disability or disabilities independently ratable at 60 percent or more, or (2) is permanently housebound by reason of a service-connected disability or disabilities. VA’s implementing regulation at 38 C.F.R. § 3.350(i) essentially mirrors the statutory language.
Prior to the CAVC’s decision in Bradley v. Peake, VA excluded a rating of total disability based on individual unemployability (TDIU) as a basis for a grant of SMC at the (s) rate. VA relied upon language in citing VAOPGCPREC 6-99, dated June 7, 1999, in which the General Counsel stated that a TDIU rating takes into account all of a veteran’s service-connected disabilities and that considering a TDIU rating and a schedular rating in determining eligibility for SMC would conflict with the requirement for “additional” disability of 60 percent or more by counting the same disability twice.
On November 26, 2008, the Court, in Bradley v. Peake, disagreed with VA’s interpretation and held that the provisions of section 1114(s) do not limit a “service-connected disability rated as total” to only a schedular 100 percent rating. The Court found the opinion too expansive because it was possible that there would be no duplicate counting of disabilities if a veteran was awarded TDIU based on a single disability and thereafter received disability ratings for other conditions. The Court’s holding allows a TDIU rating to serve as the “total” service-connected disability, if the TDIU entitlement was solely predicated upon a single disability for the purpose of considering entitlement to SMC at the (s) rate. The Court held that the requirement for a single “service-connected disability rated as total” cannot be satisfied by a combination of disabilities. Multiple service-connected disabilities that combine to 70 percent or more and establish entitlement to TDIU under 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a) cannot be treated as a single “service-connected disability rated as total” for purposes of entitlement to SMC at the (s) rate. Based on the Court’s decision in Bradley, entitlement to SMC at the (s) rate will now be granted for TDIU recipients if the TDIU evaluation was, or can be, predicated upon a single disability and (1) there exists additional disability or disabilities independently ratable at 60 percent or more, or (2) the veteran is permanently housebound by reason of a service-connected disability or disabilities.
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broncovet
Some of you had questions on Bradley vs Peake and its affect on SMC S.
Here is VA's Fast letter, 09-33
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Dustoff1970
I recently received SMC-S back dated to 2017 based upon Bradley v. Peak and other friendly favorable U.S. CAVC court decisions. The BVA granted me my first of two successful appeals and gave me 50% f
Vync
Don't forget about how the Cantrell v. Shulkin (2017) decision changed Bradley v. Peake. Cantrell requested a TDIU rating, but was denied because he worked full-time as a park ranger. He appealed and
broncovet
Correct, Dot. The criteria for SMC S (statuatory, there is also a housebound in fact) is "a single" 100 percent rating, plus a comined additional 60 percent seperate and distinct. And, Bradley vs Pe
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