SMC ?

[jfrei]

So I’m 100 P and T due to my sTBI and several other little things equaling over an additional 60% giving me SMC S. I have since filed for an increase for my migraines the VA has is on their way to giving me Botox. Not really thinking to much about SMCs if my increase is granted is there anything else I would qualify for that I am unaware of? 

[broncovet]

Do you have "loss of use" of anything?  

Or, do you need aid and attendance?

Does your spouse need a and a?

[jfrei]

I receive SMC S now and didn’t apply for aid and attendance the regional office said being 100% P and T for my TBi isn’t enough to receive aid and attendance, even though my wife has to work Part time due to having to help with me not allowing her to work full time. So I didn’t ask or press...

[Vync]

@Buck52 brought up something often overlooked: loss of use.

If your SC disabilities, or the side effects of medications used to treat them, cause an additional disability, you can file a claim for it. One example is ED. If you are diagnosed with ED and feel it is related to your SC disabilities and treating medications, it might be worth it to file a claim. If you win, it will be a separate SMC-K award, which is a little over $100 per month.

 

[broncovet]

You posted, 

Quote

I receive SMC S now and didn’t apply for aid and attendance the regional office said being 100% P and T for my TBi isn’t enough to receive aid and attendance,

Tatoo this on your arm, if necessary, to remember it:

Quote

You can not beleive everything your VARO or VSO tells you.  

What the VARO told you is not true.  Citing M21-1MR, Part V, Subpart ii, Chapter 3,  whenever you are awarded a single 100 percent disability, they are required to consider A and A.  

If, indeed, you feel like you meet the criteria for A and A, then fight VA for it, and you can begin by applying for it.  Even tho, they should have considered it earlier, go ahead and apply and if they dont give you the effective date you want, fight for that, too.  

 

Of course, if by telling you made up stuff like that, they can get you to "not apply", then they have accomplished their purpose:  They have saved themselves work.  

 

Edited August 7, 2018 by broncovet

[broncovet]

Here is the criteria for A and A (I dont know if you meet the criteria or not, you would know that better than I do):

 3.352 Criteria for determining need for aid and attendance and “permanently bedridden.”

(a)Basic criteria for regular aid and attendance and permanently bedridden. The following will be accorded consideration in determining the need for regular aid and attendance ( § 3.351(c)(3): inability of claimant to dress or undress himself (herself), or to keep himself (herself) ordinarily clean and presentable; frequent need of adjustment of any special prosthetic or orthopedic appliances which by reason of the particular disability cannot be done without aid (this will not include the adjustment of appliances which normal persons would be unable to adjust without aid, such as supports, belts, lacing at the back, etc.); inability of claimant to feed himself (herself) through loss of coordination of upper extremities or through extreme weakness; inability to attend to the wants of nature; or incapacity, physical or mental, which requires care or assistance on a regular basis to protect the claimant from hazards or dangers incident to his or her daily environment. “Bedridden” will be a proper basis for the determination. For the purpose of this paragraph “bedridden” will be that condition which, through its essential character, actually requires that the claimant remain in bed. The fact that claimant has voluntarily taken to bed or that a physician has prescribed rest in bed for the greater or lesser part of the day to promote convalescence or cure will not suffice. It is not required that all of the disabling conditions enumerated in this paragraph be found to exist before a favorable rating may be made. The particular personal functions which the veteran is unable to perform should be considered in connection with his or her condition as a whole. It is only necessary that the evidence establish that the veteran is so helpless as to need regular aid and attendance, not that there be a constant need. Determinations that the veteran is so helpless, as to be in need of regular aid and attendance will not be based solely upon an opinion that the claimant's condition is such as would require him or her to be in bed. They must be based on the actual requirement of personal assistance from others.

(b)Basic criteria for the higher level aid and attendance allowance.

 

>>>>>>>>>

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 501, 1114(r)(2))

(c)Attendance by relative. The performance of the necessary aid and attendance service by a relative of the beneficiary or other member of his or her household will not prevent the granting of the additional allowance.