Citation Nr: 18160994 Decision Date: 12/28/18 Archive Date: 12/28/18 DOCKET NO. 17-01 749 DATE: December 28, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to an effective date earlier than September 17, 2015, for special monthly compensation based on housebound status is denied. FINDING OF FACT The minimum requirements for special monthly compensation at the housebound rate (with one disability rated as 100 percent and another rated as 60 percent disabling) were not met prior to September 17, 2015; and the evidence does not establish that the Veteran was permanently housebound prior to that date. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to an effective date earlier than September 17, 2015, for special monthly compensation based on housebound status have not been met. 38 U.S.C. § 1114, 5107, 5110 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.350, 3.400 (2018). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had active duty service from July 1969 to October 1970. Entitlement to an effective date earlier than September 17, 2015, for special monthly compensation based on housebound status. The Veteran contends that he is entitled to an effective date earlier than September 17, 2015, for the award of special monthly compensation based on housebound status. An award of special monthly compensation based on housebound status requires that the veteran have a single service-connected disability rated as 100 percent, and (1) has additional service-connected disability or disabilities independently ratable at 60 percent, separate and distinct from the 100 percent service-connected disability and involving different anatomical segments or bodily systems, or (2) is permanently housebound by reason of service-connected disability or disabilities. This permanently housebound requirement is met when the veteran is substantially confined as a direct result of service-connected disabilities to his or her dwelling and the immediate premises or, if institutionalized, to the ward or clinical areas, and it is reasonably certain that the disability or disabilities and resultant confinement will continue throughout his or her lifetime. 38 C.F.R. § 3.350(i). The Veteran has a 100 percent disability rating for his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with major depressive disorders with psychotic features from March 22, 2004. By a May 2016 rating decision, the RO granted service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, rated as 20 percent disabling; bilateral upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, rated as 20 percent disabling for each extremity; and bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, rated as 20 percent disabling for each extremity. All of these disabilities were assigned an effective date of September 17, 2015, the date the Veteran filed his claim. He was also granted special monthly compensation based on housebound from September 17, 2015; the date the Veteran met the schedular requirements for statutory housebound special monthly compensation. Notably, the Veteran did not appeal the effective date for the grants of service connection for diabetes and peripheral neuropathy. On his VA Form 9 filed in November 2016, the Veteran stated “my home isolation started years ago before PTSD was recognized. I was diagnosed with diabetes in 2007 not 2015, my records at VA should indicate a long history of isolation and so many jobs I can’t count for basically not showing up for fear of going outside.” Based on a review of the evidence, the Board finds that the Veteran is not entitled to an effective date earlier than September 17, 2015, for special monthly compensation based on housebound. Here, the evidence is clear that the Veteran did not meet the housebound criteria until September 17, 2015. That is, he did not have the requisite schedular criteria to warrant special monthly compensation at the housebound rate. The Board acknowledges the Veteran’s contentions that he was diagnosed with diabetes well before his claim was granted; however, an effective date for VA purposes does not run from the date of diagnosis, and is instead based on the date claims are filed. Moreover, the Board additionally recognizes that in October 2009, the Veteran attempted to file a claim for diabetes mellitus. However, on review of the record, there are several documents stating that the Veteran then called in to cancel his claim. The RO ultimately sent the Veteran a letter in November 2009 stating: On 10/27/2009, you called our office to request service connection for diabetes mellitus type II. On 11/3/09, we received a second phone call stating that you want to cancel the claim for diabetes. If you do not wish to cancel your claim, and you would like to continue, please tell us in writing . . . You do not have to do anything, if you truly want to cancel your claim. Your claim has been discontinued. There was no further correspondence from the Veteran regarding a claim for diabetes until his September 2015 intent to file. Thus, because the Veteran specifically called in to discontinue his claim and it is well-documented, the Board will not construe the October 2009 correspondence as a valid claim for benefits. A Veteran may also establish special monthly compensation based on actually being permanently housebound. As noted by the Veteran, he isolates because of his service-connected PTSD. However, the schedular criteria for PTSD at the 100 percent rating specifically contemplates total occupational and social impairment. Put differently, the schedular rating for the Veteran’s PTSD contemplates his isolation. Instead, payment at the housebound rate is for those Veterans who have shown that they are permanently housebound by reason of a service-connected disability or disabilities. Here, the evidence of record continues to show that the Veteran attends doctors’ appointments, goes to church, runs errands on his own, and was considered capable of being able to work at Wal-Mart as a greeter. See October 2015 VA Treatment Records; December 2016 VA Examination. In addition, he attends group session for his PTSD. The Veteran’s voluminous amount of VA treatment records do not document that he was at any point confined to his home. It is also worth noting that even if the Veteran was confined to his home a result of his service-connected disabilities, an effective date earlier than September 17, 2015, still would not be warranted as there is no indication in the file that the Veteran attempted to file a claim for special monthly compensation based on the housebound rate prior to that date. Accordingly, an effective date prior to September 17, 2015, for special monthly compensation based on housebound status is not warranted. H.M. WALKER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Martha R. Luboch, Associate Counsel