VA Disability Rates for Veterans
Who can I contact for help?
DAV benefits experts are available across the country to help veterans navigate their VA benefits and provide counseling for veterans on claims and appeals—all at no cost to the veteran.
DAV Georgia Chapter 1 meet on the second Monday of each month at 7:00pm. The location is Clayton State University, 2000 University Blvd, Morrow, GA 30260. Once on campus, proceed to the Lakeview Discovery Science Building room 110. During the meeting, you can speak to anyone of the Chapter Service Officers to assist you in filing your disability claim.
If you cannot attend the meeting and have questions about your VA disability claim, you can contact the Chapter Adjutant at wmjones3371@gmail.com. You can also call Chapter 1 at 404 863 2642.
One of the most confusing aspects of filing for service-connected disability compensation is figuring out how the Department of Veterans Affairs establishes a rating. Below we will show you how VA calculates disability ratings so you can be better informed when discussing and making decisions about your claim.
How does VA decide a rating?
If VA rates a single condition, your rating is the rating for that single condition, but most veterans are rated for multiple conditions. This rating for multiple conditions is called a “combined” rating.
One of the major misconceptions is that combined simply means added together, which is not true as the VA uses what is known as a combined ratings table. This means that a person’s efficiency is determined first by the most disabling—or highest individually rated condition—and then by less disabling conditions ranked in order of severity
A veteran may receive a letter from VA notifying them that they have two service-connected disabilities, TBI and a back injury, rated at 50% each. Normally, 50% plus 50% would equal 100%, but this veteran’s total disability rating is listed as 80%.
This is how the combined ratings table works:
In this case, the VA takes 100 (representing a whole efficient person) and subtracts the highest individually rated condition (TBI at 50%). This means the veteran is initially considered 50% disabled and 50% efficient.
100% whole efficient person – 50% = 50%
The veteran’s back injury is also rated at 50%, but no longer at 50% of the whole efficient person. Instead, the back injury rating is subtracted from the remaining efficient person.
50% remaining efficient person – 50% = 25%
So only 25% (for the back injury) is added to the first 50% (for the TBI).
50% (TBI) + 25% (back injury) = 75% combined disability rating
VA rounds the combined disability rating up to the nearest 10, so 75% becomes 80% total disability.
For additional information on how VA rates disability claims, you can visit their benefits site here.
What should I do after receiving a claim decision from the VA?
If you are satisfied with your decision, you need take no further action. However, if you are not satisfied with any part of the outcome, you have the right to appeal the VA’s ruling.
It is possible in some cases to simply gather additional information recommended by your DAV benefits specialist and request re-adjudication of the claim. This may be faster than filing a formal appeal.
A DAV specialist can also help you file a formal appeal if that is necessary, and as of 2017 there are now three paths a veteran can take to do so: taking their appeal directly to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals; requesting a higher-level VA adjudicator to decide their case; or file a supplemental claim with new evidence.
Veterans have one year from the date of the VA notification letter to appeal a claims decision.
