Citation Nr: 21004696 Decision Date: 01/27/21 Archive Date: 01/27/21 DOCKET NO. 20-30 616 DATE: January 27, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to financial assistance for automobile or other conveyance and adaptive equipment or adaptive equipment only is denied. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran’s service-connected disabilities do not result in loss or loss of use of a hand or foot, permanent impairment of both eyes, severe burn injury, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ankylosis of a knee or hip. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for establishing eligibility for financial assistance for an automobile or other conveyance and adaptive equipment or adaptive equipment only have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 3901, 3902, 5103, 5103A, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.159, 3.350, 3.808. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from January 1954 to December 1955. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2018 rating decision from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In September 2019, the Board remanded the case to issue a Statement of the Case in response to the August 2018 Notice of Disagreement. Entitlement to financial assistance for automobile or other conveyance and adaptive equipment or adaptive equipment only is denied. Financial assistance may be provided to an “eligible person” in acquiring an automobile or other conveyance and adaptive equipment, or automotive adaptive equipment only. 38 U.S.C. § 3902(a)(b). Eligibility for assistance to purchase a vehicle and adaptive equipment is warranted where one of the following exists as the result of injury or disease incurred or aggravated during active service: (1) loss or permanent loss of use of one or both feet; (2) loss or permanent loss of use of one or both hands; (3) permanent impairment of vision of both eyes, meaning central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye, with corrective glasses, or central visual acuity of more than 20/200 if there is a field defect in which the peripheral field has contracted to such an extent that the widest diameter of visual field subtends an angular distance no greater than 20 degrees in the better eye; (4) severe burn injury precluding effective operation of an automobile; (5) amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; or, (5) for adaptive equipment only, ankylosis of one or both knees or one or both hips. 38 U.S.C. § 3901; 38 C.F.R. § 3.808. Service connection is in effect for degenerative joint disease of the lumbar and cervical spine sections, right knee arthritis, and hearing loss. Initially, the Veteran does not contend, and the evidence does not suggest that service-connected disabilities result in loss of use of an upper extremity, permanent visual impairment, severe burns, or ankylosis of the knees or hips. Moreover, in light of the nature of the Veteran’s disabilities, this claim turns on whether the Veteran experiences actual loss of use of one of both feet. 38 U.S.C. § 3901; 38 C.F.R. § 3.808. Loss of use of a foot will be held to exist when no effective function remains other than that which would be equally well served by an amputation stump at the site of election below the knee with use of a suitable prosthetic appliance. Determinations regarding loss of use will be made on the basis of the actual remaining function, such as whether acts of balance and propulsion could be accomplished equally well by an amputation stump with prothesis. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.350 (a)(2). Here, the evidence shows that the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities do not result in loss of use of the lower extremities. In reaching this determination, the Board acknowledges that the most recent December 2019 VA Aid and Attendance or Housebound examination report shows that the Veteran cannot walk more than three feet without assistance, that he does not drive, and that he ambulates with use of a cane for stability. The examination further shows that the Veteran’s service-connected knee and spine disabilities result in balance and propulsion deficits due to muscular weakness and pain. (Continued on the next page)   However, even though the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities essentially preclude unassisted ambulation, the fact that the Veteran can ambulate with a cane affirmatively opposes a finding that the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities result in actual loss of use of one of both feet for purposes of entitlement to financial assistance for automobile or other conveyance and adaptive equipment or adaptive equipment only. Accordingly, entitlement to financial assistance for automobile or other conveyance and adaptive equipment or adaptive equipment only is not warranted. STEVEN D. REISS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Joshua R. Castillo, 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.