VA Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) for Serious Disabilities

WHAT IS SMC:  Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) is a rate paid in addition to or in place of 0% to 100% combined degree compensation.  VA Special Monthly Compensation is monetary ($$) disability compensation above the rate for simply 100% disabled.  For example: a single Wounded Warrior veteran at 100% VA disabled receives:  $2,673.00 a month in VA Disability Compensation.  However, with SMC, the Wounded Warrior veteran could be receiving up to $4,176.00 a month in VA Disability Compensation.  To qualify, a veteran must be disabled beyond a combined degree percentage or due to special circumstances.  SMC categories are referred to by the letters (K) through (R.2). These alphabetic designations follow the paragraph numbering system in Title 38 U.S.C. §1114. (Click here for 42 page document)

WHAT QUALIFIES FOR SMC: A Veteran can receive these additional payments for serious disabilities, that is the VA can pay additional compensation to a veteran who, as a result of military service, incurred the loss or loss of use of specific organs or extremities.

WHAT IS CONSIDERED LOSS OR LOSS OF USE: Loss, or loss of use, is described as either an amputation or, having no effective remaining function of an extremity or organ.  The disabilities VA considers for SMC include:

• loss, or loss of use, of a hand or foot
• immobility of a joint or paralysis
• loss of sight of an eye (having only light perception)
• loss, or loss of use, of a reproductive organ
• complete loss, or loss of use, of both buttocks
• deafness of both ears (having absence of air and bone conduction)
• inability to communicate by speech (complete organic aphonia)
• loss of a percentage of tissue from a single breast, or both breasts, from mastectomy or radiation treatment

IF THE VETERAN HAS A COMBINATION OF THESE DISABILITIES: The VA will pay higher rates for combinations of these disabilities such as loss or loss of use of the feet, legs, hands, and arms, in specific monetary increments, based on the particular combination of the disabilities.  There are also higher payments for various combinations of severe deafness with bilateral blindness.