Citation Nr: 21061748 Decision Date: 10/05/21 Archive Date: 10/05/21 DOCKET NO. 18-47 357 DATE: October 5, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to financial assistance for automobile or other conveyance and adaptive equipment or adaptive equipment 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 for adaptive equipment only, are not met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 3901, 3902, 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 from February 1950 to June 1959. This appeal is before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a June 2018 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office. In July 2021, the Veteran provided sworn testimony before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ) at a Board hearing. A copy of the hearing transcript has been associated with the electronic claims file. The Board acknowledges that the record contains additional medical evidence that was associated with the claims file after the 2018 statement of the case. However, the evidence is not pertinent to the claims on appeal; rather, it was based on development for a plethora of other claims which were henceforth denied and therefore not relevant for the current claim on appeal. Because that evidence is not pertinent to this appeal, the Board may proceed to the merits of the claims before it. See 38 C.F.R. § 20.1304(c). Eligibility for financial assistance for automobile or other conveyance and adaptive equipment, or for 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 adaptive equipment only. See 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, (6) for adaptive equipment only, ankylosis of one or both knees or one or both hips. See 38 U.S.C. § 3901; 38 C.F.R. § 3.808. The term "loss of use of a hand or foot" is defined as existing 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 elbow or knee with the use of a suitable prosthetic appliance." See 38 C.F.R. § 3.350(a)(2). The Veteran's service-connected disabilities are tinnitus, rated at 10 percent, and bilateral sensorineural hearing loss rated at 50 percent. None of the above criteria for financial assistance under 38 U.S.C. § 3902 have been shown to be met. Moreover, neither the Veteran nor his representative have specifically argued that the criteria for assistance under 38 U.S.C. § 3902 such as loss of use of one or both feet, as defined in 38 C.F.R. § 3.350 (a)(2) have been met, given the Veteran's current service-connected disabilities. There is no explanation in the record as to how his service-connected tinnitus or hearing loss would meet any of these criteria. Further, the Veteran has not contended, and the record does not otherwise reflect, that his service-connected disabilities have resulted in any of the disabling conditions listed in 38 U.S.C. § 3901 and 38 C.F.R. § 3.808. Rather, as discussed during his 2021 Board hearing, the Veteran asserts that he has a heart disability, ambulation issues, and visual impairment none of which are related to his hearing loss or tinnitus. While the Veteran contends that such impairments are service-related, they do not result from any currently service-connected disability. The record also reflects that the Veteran has continued to file claims for various other conditions, and that he reports that he is wheelchair bound. For example, the Veteran has filed claims for diabetes mellitus, lower extremity diabetic neuropathy, a heart condition, right knee condition, bilateral hand and finger disabilities, and visual impairment in the right eye. However, service connection has not at this point been granted for any of the aforementioned disabilities; these disabilities are not service connected; and the claims for such are not on appeal here. The Veteran may file service connection claims with VA for these disabilities, and he may also again file a claim for financial assistance for automobile or other conveyance and adaptive equipment based on any such disability. However, the Board must consider the current claim based on the Veteran's current service-connected disabilities (emphasis added). Based on these, he does not meet the criteria set forth in 38 U.S.C. § 3901 and 38 C.F.R. § 3.808 for eligibility for financial assistance for automobile or other conveyance and adaptive equipment, or for adaptive equipment only, under 38 U.S.C. § 3902. Therefore, his claim for such is denied. LESLEY A. REIN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board G.Hoy, 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.