SMC-S: Housebound, or one disability at 100 percent plus 60 percent

What this level is

SMC-S is the housebound rate in 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s) and 38 CFR § 3.350(i). It has two paths. Both start with a single service-connected disability rated as total. The second path is permanent housebound status. The first path is an additional service-connected disability or disabilities independently ratable at 60 percent.

How it is paid

SMC-S is a basic rate. It is paid instead of the schedular 10 to 100 percent table. It is not added on top of a 100% schedular rate.

Criteria

• A single service-connected disability rated as 100 percent.
• And additional service-connected disability or disabilities independently ratable at 60 percent, separate and distinct from the 100 percent disability and involving different anatomical segments or bodily systems.
• Or, instead of that 60 percent, the veteran is permanently housebound by reason of service-connected disability or disabilities.
• Section 1114(s) and § 3.350(i)(2) treat “permanently housebound” as met when the veteran is substantially confined, as a direct result of service-connected disabilities, to the 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 the confinement will continue throughout the veteran’s lifetime.
• VA.gov’s short description says level S may apply if the veteran cannot leave the house because of service-connected disabilities. The statute and regulation also include the total-plus-60 path, and they define housebound as substantial confinement.