The Board denied the veteran's claim for special monthly pension based on need for regular aid and attendance or being housebound due to multiple non-service-connected disabilities, finding that he did not meet the criteria for either benefit.
The deciding factor: The veteran had a combined disability rating of 60%, which is below the threshold required for special monthly pension benefits based on need for regular aid and attendance or being housebound.
- Claimed conditions
- Arthritis, Back problems, Varicose veins, Major depression with anxiety, Degenerative joint disease of the hands, feet and shoulders, Moderate to severe degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine, Degenerative joint disease of the hips
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 12, 2004
- Citation
- 0409475
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 685 · Granted: 36% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0409475.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeal for a compensable rating for hypertension and granted service connection for varicose veins on a secondary basis to hypertension.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty-to-assist error in previous examinations, requiring additional information on right shoulder ROM measurements without medication effects.
- Granted
The Veteran's disability ratings for low back disability and right lower extremity radiculopathy have been reduced from 40% and 10%, respectively, to 20% and 0%. The reduction was based on improvements shown in recent VA examinations.
- Denied
The Veteran's right knee strain with arthritis is currently rated at 10 percent, the maximum allowable rating under Diagnostic Code 5010 prior to February 7, 2021. The Veteran's GERD with hiatal hernia and irritable bowel syndrome is not rated higher than 30 percent.
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