The Veteran's entitlement to special monthly compensation (SMC) due to being housebound was granted with an effective date of November 26, 2008. However, the Appellant is seeking an earlier effective date back to August 2, 2003.
The deciding factor: The Court invalidated VA's interpretation that the change in regulation on November 26, 2008 was a change in law and thus retroactive effect should be given as it relates to claims still open for direct review. The effective date is assigned based on facts found, but usually not earlier than the effective date of the new law or administrative change.
- Claimed conditions
- PTSD, low back disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- January 10, 2018
- Citation
- 1801821
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 1801821.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for PTSD, generalized anxiety disorder, and somatic symptom disorder, as well as presumptive service connection for basal cell carcinoma under the PACT Act. Service connection was denied for chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, right restless leg syndrome, left restless leg syndrome, an increased rating for psychiatric disorder, bilateral hearing loss, a left forehead surgical scar, and allergic rhinitis.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various disabilities to the AOJ for further development and consideration of evidence not previously considered.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for migraine headaches with an initial rating of 50 percent effective from August 10, 2022, and denied the claims for service connection for a right knee disability, obstructive sleep apnea, kidney disability, low back disability, and erectile dysfunction.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's PTSD was granted a maximum disability rating of 100 percent effective December 12, 2022. The ratings for migraines and IBS with GERD were restored from noncompensable to their previous levels.
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