38 USC 1114: SMC Rates, Categories, and Aid and Attendance

Special Monthly Compensation rates under 38 U.S.C. 1114 range from $139.87 per month at the SMC(k) level to $11,271.67 per month at the SMC(r)(2) and SMC(t) levels for 2026. The rates below took effect December 1, 2025, and apply to a veteran with no dependents. SMC exists because a standard 0–100% rating cannot capture the real-world cost of losing both hands, going blind, or needing another person to help you dress and eat every day.

2026 SMC Rate Table

SMC-K: $139.87 per month, added on top of your basic disability compensation or other SMC rate
SMC-L: $4,900.83 per month
SMC-L ½: $5,154.00 per month
SMC-M: $5,408.55 per month
SMC-M ½: $5,780.00 per month
SMC-N: $6,152.64 per month
SMC-N ½: $6,514.00 per month
SMC-O/P: $6,877.12 per month
SMC-R.1: $9,826.88 per month
SMC-R.2/T: $11,271.67 per month

The VA adjusts these amounts annually with a cost-of-living increase. Veterans with dependents receive more. A veteran at SMC-L with a spouse and one child, for example, gets $5,281.24 instead of $4,900.83.¹

What Each SMC Category Covers

The statute creates a ladder. Each rung corresponds to a more severe combination of disabilities, and the rate you receive is set by which rung you meet.

SMC(k) — Individual Losses

SMC(k) is the entry point and works differently from every other category. Instead of replacing your standard compensation, it stacks on top of it. You receive an additional $139.87 per month for each qualifying loss: loss of use of a hand or foot, blindness in one eye with only light perception, deafness in both ears, loss of a creative organ, or complete loss of the ability to speak.² For women veterans, loss of 25% or more of breast tissue from surgery or radiation treatment also qualifies.³

You can receive up to three separate SMC(k) awards if you have multiple qualifying losses, but the total is capped when combined with higher categories. Combined with basic compensation under subsections (a) through (j), the total cannot exceed the SMC(l) rate. Combined with SMC(l) through (n), it cannot exceed the SMC(o) rate.³

SMC(l) — Aid and Attendance

SMC(l) is where the compensation takes a significant jump. It covers veterans who have lost both feet, one hand and one foot, blindness in both eyes at 5/200 visual acuity or less, or who are permanently bedridden or so helpless they need regular aid and attendance from another person.² Most veterans encounter this category when a condition crosses the line from severely impaired to unable to manage daily life alone.

SMC(m) and SMC(n) — Progressive Loss of Function

SMC(m) applies when a veteran has lost both hands, both legs (with factors preventing prosthetic use at the knee), one arm and one leg (with factors preventing prosthetic use at both elbow and knee), or blindness in both eyes with only light perception. SMC(n) covers more extensive losses: both arms with factors preventing prosthetic use at the elbow, both legs without any ability to use prosthetics, or complete anatomical loss of both eyes.²

SMC(o) — Multiple Severe Disabilities

SMC(o) applies when a veteran’s disabilities would independently qualify for two or more of the rates from SMC(l) through (n), with no single condition counted twice. It also covers certain combinations of total blindness and severe deafness, or anatomical loss of both arms without any ability to use prosthetics.²

SMC(r) — Higher-Level Aid and Attendance

SMC(r) has two tiers, available only to veterans already entitled to SMC(o) or the maximum intermediate rate. SMC(r)(1) adds a monthly aid and attendance allowance for veterans who need regular personal assistance. SMC(r)(2) provides a larger allowance for veterans who need daily in-home care from a licensed health-care professional, such as a nurse or physical therapist. To qualify for (r)(2), the VA must find that without this level of care, the veteran would need hospitalization or a nursing home.²

SMC(s) — Housebound

SMC(s) applies in two distinct situations. The first is a veteran with a single disability rated as total who also has one or more separate service-connected disabilities combining to 60% or more. The second is a veteran with a total rating who is permanently confined to the home due to service-connected disabilities. The first path is purely mathematical and does not require the veteran to actually be confined at home. The second requires the veteran to be substantially confined to their dwelling and immediate surroundings, though medical appointments are still permitted.² This distinction trips up a lot of veterans who assume “housebound” always means they cannot leave the house.

SMC(t) — Traumatic Brain Injury

SMC(t) was created for veterans who need regular aid and attendance due to residuals of traumatic brain injury but do not qualify for SMC(r)(2). It pays at the same rate as SMC(r)(2), $11,271.67 per month without dependents. To qualify, the veteran must need aid and attendance for TBI residuals and, without that care, would require hospitalization or residential institutional care.²

Intermediate Rates

The “half” rates on the table (L ½, M ½, N ½) are intermediate rates authorized under 38 U.S.C. 1114(p). They apply when a veteran’s condition falls between two statutory categories. Blindness in one eye at 5/200 or less combined with only light perception in the other eye, for example, qualifies for the rate between SMC(l) and SMC(m).⁴

Aid and Attendance Criteria

The VA considers you in need of regular aid and attendance if you meet any of the following criteria under 38 CFR 3.352:

You cannot dress, undress, or keep yourself reasonably clean without help.
You cannot feed yourself due to loss of coordination or extreme weakness in your upper body.
You cannot attend to basic bodily needs without assistance.
You have a physical or mental condition that requires regular help to protect you from everyday hazards in your environment.
You frequently need help adjusting prosthetic or orthopedic devices that most people could not adjust on their own.
Your condition genuinely requires you to stay in bed, not because a doctor prescribed bed rest, but because the disability itself makes it necessary.

The VA does not require constant need. The evidence has to show you are helpless enough to need regular assistance.⁵

For the higher-level aid and attendance allowance under SMC(r)(2) or SMC(t), the requirement is stricter: you must need daily in-home health-care services from a licensed professional or someone supervised by one. This includes tasks like administering injections, managing catheters, changing sterile dressings, or physical therapy.⁵

Loss of Use vs. Amputation

Amputation is the most obvious qualifier at every category above SMC(k), but “loss of use” carries the same weight. A veteran with severe nerve damage that prevents any effective movement in a hand or foot can qualify for the same SMC level as someone who has had that limb amputated. The VA evaluates whether the remaining limb provides any meaningful function, and if it does not, treats it the same as anatomical loss.³

How Blindness Ratings Move You Up the Ladder

The statute draws careful lines by degree of vision loss:

Blindness in one eye with only light perception: SMC(k)
Blindness in both eyes at 5/200 visual acuity or worse: SMC(l)
Total blindness in both eyes with only light perception: SMC(m)
Complete anatomical loss of both eyes or blindness without any light perception: SMC(n)

Combined visual and hearing impairments can push a veteran into higher intermediate rates.⁴

Add-Ons for Dependents

Veterans receiving SMC with a disability rated at 30% or higher qualify for additional monthly payments for dependents.⁶ The 2026 add-ons follow a consistent structure across categories:

Each additional child under 18: $109.11 per month
Each child over 18 in a qualifying school program: $352.45 per month
Spouse needing aid and attendance: $201.41 per month on top of the spouse rate already included in the base amount

The “child” category includes unmarried children under 18, those who became permanently incapable of self-support before turning 18, and students under 23 pursuing education at an approved institution.⁷

If your spouse is blind, nearly blind (5/200 visual acuity or less in both eyes), a nursing home patient, or meets the factual criteria for needing regular aid and attendance, you may qualify for the increased spouse rate.⁸ The VA usually calculates dependent adjustments automatically, but you need to keep your dependent information current by submitting VA Form 21-686c whenever your family situation changes.¹

Filing for SMC and Protecting Your Effective Date

VA Form 21-526EZ (Application for Disability Compensation and Related Compensation Benefits) includes a dedicated section for Special Monthly Compensation and is the primary form for an SMC claim. If you are specifically seeking aid and attendance or housebound benefits, VA Form 21-2680 (Examination for Housebound Status or Permanent Need for Regular Aid and Attendance) supplements your claim with clinical findings about your functional limitations.⁹ You can submit either form online through VA.gov, by mail, or in person at a VA Regional Office.

Before you have all your evidence together, submit VA Form 21-0966 (Intent to File a Claim). This gives you one year to complete and submit your full application while preserving the earlier date as your potential effective date for benefits.¹⁰ You do not need to identify the specific SMC category or medical conditions on the intent to file; simply indicate you are filing for compensation. If you do not submit a complete claim within that year, the intent to file expires.¹¹

For an original claim, the effective date is generally the date you filed or the date the disability began, whichever is later. For claims based on a worsening condition, the VA will date the increase back to the earliest point you can show the disability got worse, but only if you file within one year of that date. Miss that window and the effective date defaults to when the VA received the new claim.¹²

As of early 2026, the VA reports an average processing time of about 77 days for disability-related claims.¹³ SMC claims involving complex medical evidence or multiple conditions can take longer. Backpay at SMC rates can be substantial, sometimes reaching tens of thousands of dollars once an effective date is established.

1
Veterans Affairs. Current Special Monthly Compensation Rates
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 1114 – Rates of Wartime Disability Compensation
3
eCFR. 38 CFR 3.350 – Special Monthly Compensation Ratings
4
eCFR. 38 CFR 3.350 – Special Monthly Compensation Ratings
5
eCFR. 38 CFR 3.352 – Criteria for Determining Need for Aid and Attendance and Permanently Bedridden
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 1115 – Additional Compensation for Dependents
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 101 – Definitions
8
eCFR. 38 CFR 3.351 – Special Monthly Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, Death Compensation, Pension and Spouse’s Compensation Ratings
9
Veterans Affairs. About VA Form 21-2680
10
Veterans Affairs. About VA Form 21-0966
11
eCFR. 38 CFR 3.155 – How to File a Claim
12
Veterans Affairs. Disability Compensation Effective Dates
13
Veterans Affairs. The VA Claim Process After You File Your Claim