Citation Nr: 20023027
Decision Date: 04/02/20	Archive Date: 04/02/20

DOCKET NO. 19-25 746
DATE: April 2, 2020

REMANDED

Entitlement to additional special monthly compensation (SMC), to include housebound benefits, is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from February 1953 to February 1956 and from April 1956 to November 1956.

This appeal arose to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from a March 2018 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO), which awarded SMC based on the need for regular aid and attendance.

The Board previously remanded this case for further evidentiary development in November 2019.

Entitlement to additional SMC, to include housebound benefits, is remanded.

The Board’s November 2019 remand directed the RO to schedule the Veteran for a VA examination. Although an examination was scheduled in December 2019, due to a healthcare emergency, the Veteran was forced to miss his appointment; the Veteran requested a new appointment, specifically asking that the appointment be scheduled in order to best align with his caregiver’s schedule. To date, the RO has not honored the Veteran’s request for an additional examination. As the Veteran has presented good cause for his failure to appear for his scheduled examination, a remand is necessary.

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician, for SMC purposes, to determine whether the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities (individually or collectively) render him housebound.

 

 

LESLEY A. REIN

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	C. Ryan, Associate Counsel

The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.