CRSC and TDIU question

Dain_bramage

PEB Forum Regular Member
Registered Member
My status just recently went from 70% to 70% TDIU P&T. Do I need to notify someone about this? It seems like TDIU isn't technically 100%, it's just paid at that rate.
 
My status just recently went from 70% to 70% TDIU P&T. Do I need to notify someone about this? It seems like TDIU isn't technically 100%, it's just paid at that rate.
I assume “notify someone” pertains to CRSC.

CRSC can be paid for Individual Unemployability (IU) paid by the VA which is the 100% rate as you stated. The VA payment of IU @ 100% increases the amount of VA wavier.

I have seen it often with regular retirements. However, if you are a CH 61 retiree who receives the dollar amount of the longevity portion of retirement pay as your CRSC (and do not have residual retired pay) the increase in waiver will not increase your CRSC.

Requests for increases of CRSC are submitted via a reconsideration request as described at your service’s CRSC webpage.

Added, from Army CRSC website:
Can retired Soldiers be awarded Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) for Individual Unemployability (IU)?
Individual Unemployability (IU) is not a disability or a diagnosis therefore the service branches do not include it in the total combat-related disability percentage or address IU on decision letters. Eligibility for IU is determined by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) will include compensation for IU as they receive notification from the VA of a retired Soldier meeting this status.
Please note, IU is only added to a retired Soldier's Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) benefits by DFAS when his or her CRSC total disability percentage is 60% or higher. Please contact DFAS for their procedure concerning this and any payment or dollar amounts.

Ron
 
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Thanks a lot for the help! It seems like this won't affect much since I'm a CH 61 and I'm pretty sure I recieve the dollar amount of the longevity portion. Thanks again.
 
Question Ron, if someone receives an IU rating for something like migraines, and they have several other conditions totaling to more than 60%
could they be eligible for SMC-S?
 
Question Ron, if someone receives an IU rating for something like migraines, and they have several other conditions totaling to more than 60%
could they be eligible for SMC-S?
There are two different paths that can make a veteran eligible to receive SMC(s) benefits: You are entitled to receive SMC(s) if you have at least two service-connected disabilities with the first rated totally disabling (100%) and the second rated at least 60%. (See Bradley v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 280, 293 (2008) below for TDIU information.)

The second qualifying factor for SMC(s) is if the veteran is rendered housebound due to a service-connected disability. If a veteran is unable to leave his or her house, hospital ward, care facility, etc. and the medical condition is not expected to improve, the veteran may qualify for SMC(s).

———-
(i)Total plus 60 percent, or housebound; 38 U.S.C. 1114(s). The special monthly compensation provided by 38 U.S.C. 1114(s) is payable where the veteran has a single service-connected disability rated as 100 percent and,

(1) Has additional service-connected disability or disabilities independently ratable at 60 percent, separate and distinct from the 100 percent service-connected disability and involving different anatomical segments or bodily systems, or

(2) Is permanently housebound by reason of service-connected disability or disabilities. This requirement is met when the veteran is substantially confined as a direct result of service-connected disabilities to his or her 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 resultant confinement will continue throughout his or her lifetime.

Reference: Cornell Law <— LINK
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In Bradley v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 280, 293 (2008), the Court held that a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) satisfies the total (100 percent) rating requirement if the TDIU evaluation was, or can be, predicated upon a single disability and there exists additional disability or disabilities independently ratable at 60 percent or more, for purposes of entitlement to special monthly compensation for a housebound rating. In other words, 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s) for housebound benefits does not limit "a service-connected disability rated as total" to only a schedular rating of 100 percent. Id. A TDIU rating based on a single disability is permitted to satisfy the statutory requirement of a total rating. Id. Nonetheless, the TDIU rating based on a single disability that satisfies the total (100 percent) rating requirement must be separate and distinct from the additional disability or disabilities independently ratable at 60 percent or more for purposes of housebound benefits. Id. In addition, the Bradley decision also stated that the decision to treat multiple disabilities as one under 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a) was specifically limited to TDIU ratings. That is, a TDIU rating based on multiple service-connected disabilities does not satisfy the criteria for one total disability in considering entitlement to housebound benefits under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1114(s). Id. at 290-91.
Ron
 
Ok, so since something like migraines is only ratable to 50%, it would only qualify for SMC-S if the member is housbound. Does that sound correct?
 
Ok, so since something like migraines is only ratable to 50%, it would only qualify for SMC-S if the member is housbound. Does that sound correct?
Yes...you are correct IF the TDIU rating is NOT based on a single disability . “A TDIU rating based on a single disability is permitted to satisfy the statutory requirement of a total rating. Id. Nonetheless, the TDIU rating based on a single disability that satisfies the total (100 percent) rating requirement must be separate and distinct from the additional disability or disabilities independently ratable at 60 percent or more for purposes of housebound benefits. Id. In addition, the Bradley decision also stated that the decision to treat multiple disabilities as one under 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a) was specifically limited to TDIU ratings. That is, a TDIU rating based on multiple service-connected disabilities does not satisfy the criteria for one total disability in considering entitlement to housebound benefits under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1114(s). Id. at 290-91.

Ron
 
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