Citation Nr: 18147788 Decision Date: 11/06/18 Archive Date: 11/06/18 DOCKET NO. 16-37 882 DATE: November 6, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to (TDIU), based on a service-connected disability, is granted. Entitlement to special monthly compensation (SMC) based on statutory housebound status is granted. Entitlement to SMC based on the need for the regular aid and attendance of another is denied. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. Service-connected ischemic heart disease, alone, renders the Veteran unable to obtain or retain substantially gainful employment. 2. In addition to total disabling heart disease, the Veteran has additional service-connected conditions which combine to an evaluation of 60 percent or more. 3. The Veteran does not require the regular assistance of another to perform the activities of daily living or to protect himself from the dangers of his environment. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for TDIU are met. 38 U.S.C. § 1155 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.340, 3.341, 4.16, 4.19, 4.25 (2017). 2. The criteria for an award of SMC based on the need for statutory housebound status are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1114, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.350, 3.352 (2017). 3. The criteria for an award of SMC based on the need for regular aid and attendance have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1114, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.350, 3.352 (2017). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran had active service in the Army from September 1969 to September 1971. This case comes before the Board of Veteran’s Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2015 and November 2016 rating decisions of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). 1. TDIU TDIU may be assigned, if the schedular rating is less than total, when the disabled person is unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation as a result of service-connected disabilities, provided that if there is only one such disability it is ratable at 60 percent or more, and that if there are two or more such disabilities at least one is ratable at 40 percent or more and the combined rating is 70 percent or more. 38 C.F.R. § 4.16 (a) (2017). At all times during the appellate period, the Veteran met the schedular eligibility requirements. The central inquiry is whether the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities alone are of sufficient severity to produce unemployability. Hatlestad v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 524 (1993). In determining unemployability for VA purposes, consideration may be given to the Veteran’s level of education, special training, and previous work experience, but not to age or any impairment caused by nonservice-connected disabilities. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.341, 4.19; Van Hoose v. Brown, 4 Vet. App. 361 (1993). The Veteran’s service-connected coronary artery disease is rated 60 percent disabling. At the June 2016 VA examination, the examiner opined that this condition would prevent all but “sedentary type work.” While the examiner does not specifically define such, he does note prior employment as a corrections officer and a steel fabricator. Both would, on their face, require a good deal of physical activity, and seem the opposite of sedentary. In other words, the Veteran cannot return to the types of employment he had been doing for more than 30 years. His education is limited to high school, with no subsequent vocational training. He is not suited to office work or similar less physically strenuous jobs which could meet a definition of sedentary. Accordingly, the service connected heart condition alone renders him unemployable, and a finding of TDIU is warranted. 2. Housebound Status Special Monthly Compensation is payable for housebound status on a statutory basis where the claimant has a single service-connected disorder rated as totally disabling and one or more distinct service-connected disabilities, which are independently ratable at 60 percent and involve different anatomical segments or bodily systems. 38 U.S.C. § 1114 (s); 38 C.F.R. § 3.350 (i). TDIU based on a single service-connected disability for statutory housebound status. Bradley v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 280 (2008). The Board has found that service-connected coronary artery disease, alone, warrants a finding of TDIU. Further, the Veteran’s remaining disabilities, to include hearing loss (40 percent), prostate cancer (40 percent), tinnitus (10 percent) and erectile dysfunction (0 percent) independently combine to a rating in excess of 60 percent disabling. Entitlement to SMC at the housebound rate is warranted. 3. Aid and Attendance The Veteran claims entitlement to SMC at the next higher, aid and attendance level based on the need for assistance with activities of daily life. 38 C.F.R. § 1114(l); 38 C.F.R. § 3.350(b). Such is payable if, as the result of service-connected disability, the Veteran shows a need for help with daily activities like dressing and feeding himself, personal hygiene, toileting, shopping, and similar tasks and chores. He must be able to keep himself safe in his daily environment. 38 C.F.R. § 3.352. A VA examination does show that the Veteran requires such regular assistance from his wife. He is unstable and ambulates with a cane, and needs steadying. His hands tremble or are weak. While he could feed himself, he needs assistance dressing and with hygiene. Unfortunately, the VA examiner, and the Veteran in several statements, attributes this need to the residuals of his non-service connected stroke. None of the relevant limitations are associated with service-connected conditions, and hence SMC at the aid and attendance rate is not warranted. WILLIAM H. DONNELLY Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD S. Baxter, Associate Counsel