Already at 100%? You May Qualify for More: SMC-S Explained

You need one service-connected condition rated 100% by itself, plus one of these:

• Other conditions adding up to 60% on their own. Your remaining service-connected conditions, separate from the one rated 100%, combine to 60% or more. This is the "statutory" route, and it has nothing to do with whether you leave the house.
• Housebound in fact. Your service-connected conditions keep you at home or on its grounds, and that is expected to last for life.

The 100% must come from one condition. A 100% combined rating built from several smaller ratings doesn't count by itself. That is why many Veterans at 100% combined never get SMC-S, and why it is worth checking which condition carries the most weight.

If VA pays you at the 100% rate through individual unemployability (TDIU), and one condition alone keeps you from working, that TDIU can count as the single 100% condition. If your other conditions then add up to 60%, you may qualify for SMC-S. The Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims confirmed this in Bradley v. Peake (2008) and Buie v. Shinseki (2010). It is one reason TDIU can still matter after you reach 100% combined.

VA should consider SMC-S on its own whenever the record supports it, but it often doesn't. If your decision doesn't mention it, you can raise it. If VA denied it within the last year, a Higher-Level Review can point out that the ratings already meet the rule.

A ClaimScope review sorts your ratings by condition, checks whether any one condition supports 100% by itself, and tests the 60% rule with the rest. General information, not legal advice. Rates change every December; check VA's current rates.