New SMC rating?

[ArmChairRanger]

I am currently rated SMC (L-1) Entitled to special monthly compensation under 38 U.S.C. 1114, subsection (l) and 38 CFR 3.350(b) on account of loss of use of both feet from 01/2018.

I had submitted a claim for sleep apnea based on weigh gain and submitted an examination for permanent need for aid and attendance to show that I could not exercise properly. The sleep apnea claim was denied but the VA approved a second SMC (L-1) Entitled to special monthly compensation under 38 U.S.C. 1114, subsection (l) and 38 CFR 3.350(b) on account of being so helpless as to be in need of regular aid and attendance from 08/2019.

Do you have to submit a claim for additional SMC based on the new rating or should that be automatic?

Found this information on asknod.org.

The easiest way to get to R1 is the most obvious- §3.350(e)(1)(ii). You start at SMC L. If you are entitled to Aid and attendance, you are awarded SMC L #1. If you also lose the use of  both your upper or lower extremities, or an upper and a lower extremity, you get another SMC L- #2. Two SMC Ls or any combination of of two Ls, Ms, or Ns gives you a bump to SMC O. SMC N ½  with a K will too. But-here comes the legal pyramiding- if you have two of any of the rates between L and N, with no condition being counted twice, and one of the ratings is for Aid and Attendance, you advance to SMC R 1 automatically.