Citation Nr: 18155758 Decision Date: 12/06/18 Archive Date: 12/06/18 DOCKET NO. 16-45 121 DATE: December 6, 2018 REMANDED Entitlement to special monthly compensation (SMC) based on the need for aid and attendance or by reason of being housebound is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from January 1966 to December 1967. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2014 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The Board notes that the Veteran stated he believed he had an earlier effective date issue on appeal. See July 2018 Report of General Information. The Board cannot locate an issue on appeal related to entitlement to an earlier effective date. Entitlement to SMC based on the need for aid and attendance or by reason of being housebound is remanded. The Veteran submitted a private evaluation regarding his need for aid and attendance. See April 2018 private disability benefits questionnaire (DBQ). Dr. C. Bungo noted that the Veteran was able to feed himself after set-up, but unable to prepare his own meals due to an inability to stand in the kitchen and reach. She referenced right upper extremity shoulder pain, a right knee injury, and extensive spinal damage, but these disabilities are not service-connected and thus cannot be considered. Because the extent of the impairment caused by the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities remains unclear, remand for a new examination is necessary. If the Veteran would like to get an addendum opinion from Dr. Bungo wherein she only discusses the relevant effects of the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities, he is welcome to do so. A total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) rating based on a single disability is permitted to satisfy the statutory requirement of a 100 percent rating to be entitled to statutory housebound SMC. 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s); 38 C.F.R. § 3.350(i); Bradley v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 280, 293 (2008). The Veteran has been granted TDIU since 1971. Thus, an opinion regarding the occupational impairment caused by each service-connected disability is necessary to determine whether the Veteran’s TDIU can be predicated on an individual disability. The Board notes that Dr. Bungo describes the Veteran’s spine damage and right knee injury as secondary to the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities. See April 2018 private DBQ. The Veteran is welcome to file a formal claim for entitlement to service connection for those issues, if he so desires. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. The AOJ should obtain copies of VA treatment records for the Veteran’s disabilities from January 2014 to May 2017 and from September 2018 to the present. 2. After the above development is completed, the AOJ should arrange for an aid and attendance examination of the Veteran. The examiner must review the entire record (including this remand) in conjunction with the examination and note such review was conducted. In addition, the examiner should opine as to the following: (a.) Is it at least as likely as not (50% or greater probability) that the Veteran is in need of regular aid and attendance from another individual due to his service-connected disabilities only? Specifically, is he unable to dress or undress himself, or to keep himself ordinarily clean and presentable; need frequent adjustment of any special prosthetic or orthopedic appliances which by reason of the particular disabilities cannot be done without aid; unable to feed himself through loss of coordination of upper extremities or through extreme weakness; unable to attend to the wants of nature; or does he have incapacity, physical or mental, which requires care or assistance on a regular basis for protection from hazards or dangers from the daily environment due to his service-connected disabilities? (b.) Is it at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that the Veteran is permanently housebound due to his service-connected disabilities? Specifically, is he substantially confined to his dwelling and the immediate premises on account of his service-connected disabilities, and it is certain that the disability or disabilities and resultant confinement will continue throughout his lifetime? (c.) The examiner should describe any and all occupational impairment produced by each service-connected disability. 3. If upon completion of the above action the issue remains denied, the case should be returned to the Board after compliance with appellate procedures. E. I. VELEZ Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD J. Sandler, Associate Counsel