Citation Nr: 21024309 Decision Date: 04/22/21 Archive Date: 04/22/21 DOCKET NO. 15-34 956 DATE: April 22, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to special monthly compensation (SMC) based on aid and attendance/housebound status is denied. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran is not in need of the regular aid and attendance of another person and is not housebound as a result of his service-connected disabilities. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for SMC based on aid and attendance/housebound status have not been met. 38 U.S.C. § 5110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.400(o). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had active service from May 1975 to March 1977. In August 2011, the Veteran filed for entitlement to SMC based on a need for the regular aid and attendance of another person or by reason of being housebound. Service connection is in effect for a psychiatric disorder and eczematous dermatitis with acne, pseudofolliculitis barbae, and prurigo nodularis. With respect to claims of entitlement to special monthly compensation based on the need for the regular aid and attendance of another person, such claims will be granted when the Veteran, due to a service-connected disability, has the anatomical loss or loss of use of both feet or one hand and one foot, or is blind in both eyes, or is permanently bedridden or so helpless as to be in need of regular aid and attendance. See 38 U.S.C. § 1114(l); 38 C.F.R. § 3.350(b). The record does not reflect that the Veteran has the anatomical loss or loss of both feet or one hand and one foot or is blind in both eyes due to service-connected disability. Thus, the question is whether the Veteran is permanently bedridden or so helpless as to be in need of regular attendance due to his service-connected disabilities. Determinations as to the need for aid and attendance must be based on actual requirements of personal assistance from others. In making such determinations, consideration is given to the following: inability of the veteran to dress or undress himself/herself or to keep himself/herself ordinarily clean and presentable; frequent need of adjustment of any special prosthetic or orthopedic appliances which, by reason of the particular disability, cannot be done without aid; inability of the veteran to feed himself/herself through loss of coordination of upper extremities or through extreme weakness; inability to attend to the wants of nature; or incapacity, physical or mental, which requires care or assistance on a regular basis to protect the veteran from the hazards or dangers inherent in his/her daily environment. “Bedridden” will be a proper basis for the determination, and is defined as that condition which, through its essential character, actually requires that the veteran remain in bed. It is not required that all of the disabling conditions listed above be found to exist before a favorable rating may be made. The particular personal functions that a veteran is unable to perform should be considered in connection with his/her condition as a whole. It is only necessary that the evidence establish that the veteran is so helpless as to need regular aid and attendance, not that there be a constant need. 38 C.F.R. § 3.352(a). After review of the record, the Board finds the Veteran does not have a factual need for aid and attendance based on service-connected disabilities. The record includes August 2011 and March 2021 VA form 21-2680, October 2011 VA examination record, and lay statements. The records indicate that the Veteran’s functional impairment is mainly from his nonservice-connected venous insufficiency and orthopedic disorders. Although the record indicates that the service-connected disabilities resulted in impairment, they have not rendered the Veteran so helpless as to require SMC based on need for aid and attendance. Moreover, the record indicates that his primary impairment is from disabilities for which service connection is not in effect. Although SMC is not warranted for this Veteran based upon the need for aid and attendance, he may still be eligible for SMC by reason of being housebound. Special monthly compensation is payable at the housebound rate where the Veteran has 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 second 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 U.S.C. § 1114(s); 38 C.F.R. § 3.350(i). Although the Veteran has a 100 percent rating based on unemployability due to the psychiatric disability, the Veteran does not have service-connected disability independently ratable at 60 percent. Additionally, there is no indication that the Veteran is housebound; rather, the record indicates that the Veteran is able to leave his house for appointments and some errands. As such, SMC based on regular need for aid and attendance is denied. In making this determination, the Board has considered the provisions of 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b), but there is not such a state of approximate balance of the positive evidence with the negative evidence to otherwise warrant a favorable decision. T. REYNOLDS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board N. Snyder, 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.