Off The Record – Veterans’ Disability – Combined Ratings

Video Transcript

Hi, everybody, I’m here to talk about how the VA combines ratings. It seems to be a big snafu for most veterans. Unfortunately, VA math is not done the same way math is done in the free world. So, conceivably, a veteran could have 30% for one condition, 10% for another condition, and another 10% for another condition. Well, using regular math, obviously, we would say that’s 50%. Unfortunately, that’s not the way it works in VA math. The VA uses what they call a combined ratings table. And in order to do the calculations to even see what your combined evaluation should be or your overall evaluation, you gotta refer to this table and do the calculations.

Alternatively, it’s also good to know how to use this table because it will assist you in determining how much you need to get you up to the next higher evaluation. So, for example, the combined ratings table, if I take a veteran who has 30%, you start with the highest evaluation first. So, if I start at 30%, which is going to be in the left-hand corner, I start there and then I add another 10. So, I’m gonna move over towards the right on the table. That puts this veteran at 37%. So, I’m gonna take that 37, I’m gonna go back to the furthest column on the left, I’m gonna go down to 37, and then I’m gonna add another 10. That puts the veteran at 43%. So, as you can see, 30 plus 10 plus another 10 does not give you 50. The VA will round up. If the veteran is at 45%, then the veteran would have gotten the total overall of 50. It also pays to take note of the fact that it depends on how your conditions are stacked.

Not everyone is going to be able to reach 100%. And all of that is based upon how your conditions are stacked and where it all falls in the ratings table. So, for instance, if the veteran has 30%, and let’s say they didn’t have 10 and 10 but they had 20% Was their next condition, that would have put the veteran at 44%. So, at 44%, they’re still not at 50, but they’re a little closer. So, this is really where that one point can really make a difference.

If you have any questions about your current rating, or you wanna evaluate as to where you need to be in order to reach the next level as far as your evaluation, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’ll be more than happy to give you an evaluation. The consultation is always free. Thank you, and thanks for watching.