Special monthly compensation: payments above the 100% rate
· Claim Situation
The situation
The 100% rate is not always the ceiling. Special monthly compensation (SMC) pays extra for specific losses, for needing help with daily living, or for very high combined disabilities.
What SMC covers
SMC is set by law at 38 U.S.C. 1114(k)–(s) and 38 CFR 3.350. Levels are labeled by letter. Some add to any rating; others replace the regular rate.
Main levels in plain terms
- K: loss or loss of use of a creative organ, a hand, foot, eye, or other listed losses. Added on top of the regular rate.
- L through O: more severe losses, such as both feet or both hands, blindness, or needing regular aid and attendance.
- R: higher-level aid and attendance for the most severely disabled.
- S (housebound): one condition at 100% plus additional conditions independently rated 60% or more, or being permanently housebound.
Who should ask
- Veterans who need help bathing, dressing, eating or with safety.
- Veterans largely confined to home.
- Veterans with loss of use of a limb or organ, including erectile dysfunction from a service-connected cause.
How to request it
VA should consider SMC on its own, but often it doesn't. Ask for it in a claim and send medical evidence. For aid and attendance, use VA Form 21-2680. Amounts change yearly; see VA's SMC rate tables.
Related
Get free help
You never have to pay to file an initial VA claim. Free help: a VSO such as DAV, VFW or the American Legion, or a VA-accredited representative.
Educational only, not legal or medical advice. We are not VA-accredited. No one can promise an outcome; VA decides each claim on its own evidence. Rules and rates change; check the linked VA and eCFR sources.