Summary
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the denial of Terrance G. Mackey’s claim for special monthly compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s). The court held that the phrase “a service-connected disability rated as total” requires a single service-connected disability rated as total and does not include multiple disabilities combined to support a total disability rating based on individual unemployability. The court also held that the “one disability” provisions of 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a) apply only to determining eligibility for TDIU, not to satisfying § 1114(s).
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s)'s requirement of a service-connected disability rated as total permits multiple disabilities underlying a TDIU rating to be combined to satisfy the requirement.
- Whether multiple orthopedic disabilities treated as one disability under 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a) satisfy § 1114(s)'s requirement of a service-connected disability rated as total.
Holdings
- Section 1114(s) requires a single service-connected disability rated as total; multiple service-connected disabilities with ratings that combine to a total rating cannot satisfy that requirement.
- Multiple disabilities treated as one disability under 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a) for purposes of establishing eligibility for a TDIU rating do not thereby constitute a service-connected disability rated as total under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s).
Key quotations
“Taken together, the plain language of § 1114(s) establishes that Congress did not intend for multiple disabilities with ratings combining to a disability rated as total to qualify as “a service-connected disability rated as total.”” (4)
“Rather, only a single service-connected disability rated as total can meet the “a service-connected disability rated as total” requirement under § 1114(s).” (5)
“Thus, even if multiple service-connected disabilities are considered “one disability” under § 4.16(a), that fact alone does not demonstrate “a service-connected disability rated as total” for the purposes of § 1114(s).” (6)
Factual background
Mackey served in the United States Air Force from 1986 to 1990. The Department of Veterans Affairs granted him a total disability rating based on individual unemployability based on multiple service-connected disabilities, including bowel incontinence, intervertebral disc syndrome, bladder incontinence, hypertension, radiculopathy, and cervical-spine arthritis. None of those disabilities individually constituted a disability rated as total, and the Federal Circuit rejected his claim for special monthly compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s).
Procedural history
The Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office granted Mackey a total disability rating based on individual unemployability but denied his later claims for special monthly compensation. The Board denied the SMC claim, and the Veterans Court affirmed, holding that Mackey could not combine multiple disabilities to constitute a service-connected disability rated as total under § 1114(s). The Federal Circuit affirmed the Veterans Court.