What it is
VA Form 21-2680, "Examination for Housebound Status or Permanent Need for Regular Aid and Attendance," is a medical examination report. A licensed physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant fills it out describing your functional limitations. The VA uses it to decide whether to add Special Monthly Compensation (SMC) for Aid and Attendance (A&A) or Housebound benefits to your monthly check.
When you use it
File it when a service-connected disability, or, for pension claimants, age and overall disability, leaves you unable to dress, bathe, feed yourself, manage medications, or protect yourself from daily hazards, or when you are substantially confined to your home. It is also the form a surviving spouse uses to claim A&A on DIC or survivor pension.
What to gather before you fill it out
- A clinician willing to complete every section in detail. Vague answers get denied.
- Specifics on what you cannot do alone: transfers, toileting, meal prep, medication management.
- Whether you use a wheelchair, walker, prosthetic, or oxygen, and how often you leave home.
- Diagnoses, current medications, and your treating provider's contact information.
How to submit
Upload through VA.gov with the underlying claim (often a 21-526EZ for an increase or a 21-534EZ for survivors), mail to the Evidence Intake Center in Janesville, WI, or hand it to an accredited VSO. Submit it together with the benefit application, the 2680 by itself is not a claim.
Common pitfalls
- Letting the clinician write "normal" or "independent" when you need help. Push for specifics.
- Filing 2680 alone with no underlying claim form.
- Confusing this form with VA Form 21-0779, which only nursing homes complete.
Related forms
21-526EZ (compensation), 21-534EZ (survivors), 21-0779 (nursing home status), 21P-527EZ (pension).
Sources
- https://www.va.gov/find-forms/about-form-21-2680/
- 38 CFR 3.351 and 3.352