Do I qualify for smc ?

[gpound187]

I’m 100 tdui I have 2 50 percent disability’s but not the 60 they say I need.    I’m housebound most of the time because of my disabilities.   I have back,ankle,sciatica,migraines, and major depressive disorder.  

[Richard1954]

I assume your are referring to Housebound SMC S

There are three ways to qualify and they are:

 

1. A 100% scheduler rating with an additional separate rating of 60%. 

2. TDIU  awarded for a single disability that was rated at least 60%  before the grant of TDIU , and then a separate 60% rating.

3.  A  single 100% rating and the Actual need for housebound based upon a doctors opinion. 

Edited June 11, 2019 by Richard1954

[Buck52]

8 hours ago, gpound187 said:

I’m 100 tdui I have 2 50 percent disability’s but not the 60 they say I need.    I’m housebound most of the time because of my disabilities.   I have back,ankle,sciatica,migraines, and major depressive disorder.  

it depends on your rating  are you P&T?

After veterans establish service connection for a disability or disabilities resulting from their military service, the VA rates their disabilities from 0 to 100 percent for purposes of determining the amount of monthly compensation. The rating, in theory, is consistent with the degree to which a veteran is disabled and based on the degree to which the disability or disabilities impairs the average civilian in earning a living. 38 C.F.R. § 4.1 (2012).

If a veteran is found through his disability, or combined service-connected disabilities, to be unable to work, he is given a total rating (total disability) as 100 percent disabled. This is possible through either a combined rating that amounts to 100 percent or total disability based on individual unemployability (TDIU), through either what is referred to as a “schedular” rating or, in the alternative, an “extra-schedular” rating.

While a “total rating” is equivalent to being 100 percent service connected, in contrast, a rating of “permanent and total disability” or “permanent total disability” is reserved for circumstances when the veteran’s impairment is reasonably certain to continue throughout his or her life. 38 C.F.R. § 3.340(b).

Examples of disabilities that can qualify as permanent and total include, but are not limited to the following:

Permanent loss or loss of use of both hands, or both feet, or one hand and one foot, or the sight of both eyes;

Becoming permanently helpless or bedridden;

Longstanding diseases and injuries which are totally incapacitating and when the probability of permanent improvement through treatment is remote

PTSD, TBI, ischemic heart disease, coronary heart disease, or cancers from Agent Orange exposure.

Under any of the above circumstances, a veteran may qualify and be rated as permanently and totally disabled, which means that the veteran’s 100 percent rating will never be decreased.

More importantly, a veteran who is permanently and totally disabled is not just entitled to the monthly compensation for being 100 percent disabled, but likely qualifies for special monthly compensation (SMC), depending on the basis for which he or she is rated permanent and total.

SMC is awarded in addition to the basic rates of compensation payable under the Schedule for Rating Disabilities. 38 U.S.C.S. § 1114. Under the rating schedule, a single veteran with no children who is 100 percent disabled is compensated at $2,816 a month; however, a single veteran with no children who is 100 percent disabled and in addition qualifies for SMC-L is compensated at $3,504 a month. The highest level of compensation for a single veteran with no children who is 100 percent disabled and qualifies for SMC (SMC-R.2) is $8,059 a month.

[gpound187]

I’m tdui 100 percent. I’m bedridden a lot bc of my migraine and back.  My major depressive disorders keeps me from lots of things 

[broncovet]

Under Bradley vs Peake, a tdiu rating "can" be used to qualify a Veteran for a "single" 100 percent to get SMC S.  Its a little more complicated than that, I simply suggest you apply.  Yes, if you go for "housebound in fact", which Richard1954 explained as "number 3," above, you may need a c and p exam.  

You need not tell VA "which" of the criteria you want for housebound..its VA's job to determine if you meet the criteria, not YOUR job to select the right option.  (Number 1, 2, or 3, above)  

I suggest you apply, but you may well need a c and p exam to document houwboound.  

 

[broncovet]

VA LOOOOVES  to take the regulation "out of context."  As an example, the housebound regulations mention "bedridden".  

Being "bedridden" is ONE way to meet the critieria for housebound, but its not the only way.  I have heard of at least one Vet getting denied SMC S because he could get out of bed.  This is a manipulation of the regulations..a ruse..to deny.  Being permanently bedridden WILL qualify you for SMC S, but its not mandantory that you be bedridden.  

[Oceanbound]

Post you percentages.