I think I can safely say this will not go on forever but I’ve been extremely blessed to bring in yet another SMC R1 rating for one of my blind Veterans today. As is typical, VA neglected to tell him any time in the last decade he was entitled to far more than the meagre portion he was being served every month. But that should surprise no one in this business.
I’m getting writer’s cramp typing all these up and it’s only the Fifth of January. Without more ado, here’s the Magic paper for my longsuffering client Jim. Congratulations, bubba. Welcome to that rarified atmosphere of the higher SMCs. You earned it long ago. I wish we’d met sooner. I wrote about Jim here back in March of last year. After we won this battle, I pushed on for R1. VA, of course, wasn’t having any part of that.
Now, for all you SMC sleuths, spot the error in how this was added up. He was at L under §3.350(b)(2)for blind. He went to M for blind + need for a&a under §3.350(c)(1)(v). Then he got a 100% for Bent brain syndrome but they dove off the deep end into SMC P and tried to award him both that and the bump you’d get from M to N… but failed to do so on both counts. The only thing that redeems it is they granted the SMC R1 back to May of 2022 which makes it six of one and half a dozen of another. Always remember §3.103- you have to grant everything you can-not the least you can get away with. Here, it was painless but I catch VA constantly failing to award what is lawfully due.
Happy New Years, Jim. Thanks for letting me give you a hand. This SMC gig is more fun than fishing with dynamite.
asknod
Bethanie Spangenberg
kcraveiro
robinhoodesqvetsatty
Wesley McCauley
Veterans Claims Help 
Your link to read the post no longer work and there is no separate link address.
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Perhaps you need to clean out your cache and try again. I clicked on the link several times this morning and it seems to work fine, sir.
Sorry. Iâve been clicking on âRead more of this post.â I did not slow my pointer to hover over the title, but will from now on. Thank you.
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Bravo “He who’s name we do not mention”. 19 months of R-1 minus the letter he was receiving is a nice chunk. He deserves more than THAT for their freaking incompetence and his pain and suffering!!! Too bad we can’t SUE!
OH! BTW, the Thai old lady dumped me and she’s staying here for her citizenship, I am on my way back to Doi Saket (Paradise in the Land of Smiles) the end of the month with R-1 in my pocket! Funny how things turn out…
Once again Alex, Bravo!
I have a question about the Board decision though. The finding of fact #3 is “The Veteran has been deemed to be in need of personal healthcare services provided on a daily basis in his home by a person who is licensed to provide such services or who provides such services under the regular supervision of a licensed healthcare professional.”
Smells like R-2 to me. What do you think?
I smelled the same thing!
Good point, Jim. Looks like it was plagiarized verbatim out of §3.350(b). An interesting facet of the decision is that the final paragraph ignores CAVC precedence by saying the appeal is granted in full. SMC is an ancillary entitlement that is to be inferred from the evidence, not treated as a claim. AB v. Brown is explicit in that regard. The Vet seeks the highest and best rating s/he/they can get. The appeal remains in contention until that is realized. As for the intro blurb alluding to R2, I’ve seen VLJs start talking about the Vet losing SMC L for a&a if they are hospitalized which never comes into play until R2 in §3.350(h). VLJ Keith Allen once gave my Vet two Ks for LOU of each lower extremity instead of an L. This decision just goes to prove SMC is more complicated (and confusing) than anyone can conceive of-even the staff attorneys for the VLJ(s). As you can imagine, R2 is a viable concern but needs to be developed before being filed. I try to take baby steps rather than ingest the whole enchilada at one sitting.
Yes indeed. SMC is a great mystery to most. That’s what makes it so much fun!