The Veteran's hearing loss disability is rated at 90 percent, but the Board found that he does not meet the criteria for special monthly compensation based on aid and attendance or housebound status due to his service-connected condition.
The deciding factor: The Veteran’s sole service-connected disability (hearing loss) is rated at 90%, which is insufficient to qualify him for SMC by reason of need for regular aid and attendance. The Board found that the hearing loss does not render him so helpless as to be in need of regular aid and attendance.
- Claimed conditions
- Hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 90%
- Decision date
- October 2, 2019
- Citation
- A19001721
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,480 · Granted: 26% (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 A19001721.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's hearing loss and low back strain claims are remanded for further evaluation. The hearing loss claim is denied, while the low back strain claim requires additional examination to determine its severity.
- Granted
The Veteran's entitlement to higher level of SMC at the intermediate rate is granted, effective from January 8, 2021. He was previously in need of aid and attendance due to his left knee disability since February 1, 2017, and now has additional disabilities rated at 50 percent or more.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for hearing loss, finding that the Veteran's current hearing loss disability is not related to military noise exposure and there is no evidence of a nexus between in-service noise exposure and his current condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the hearing loss claim due to incomplete records and the need for a VA examination. The Veteran's hearing loss may be related to service or secondary to his service-connected cerumen impaction.
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