How the VA Calculates Combined Ratings and Why It Matters

When a veteran has two or more service-connected disabling conditions or a primary service-connected condition that causes or aggravates one or more secondary conditions, the VA must assign the veteran a combined rating that reflects the overall degree of disability caused by all of the veteran’s qualifying conditions. Understanding how the VA calculates combined disability ratings can help you maximize the financial and medical benefits you receive from the VA. 

The Basics of VA Disability Ratings

Each service-connected medical condition and qualifying secondary condition that a veteran has will receive a disability, expressed as zero, ten, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, or 100 percent, depending on the severity of the condition based on the VA’s rating criteria for that condition. Disability ratings seek to reflect the degree of impairment and loss of earning capacity caused by the condition. 

How the VA Combines Multiple Ratings

When a veteran has two or more qualifying medical conditions, the VA must combine the disability rating for each condition to arrive at a final disability rating reflecting the veteran’s overall degree of disability. However, the VA does not simply add the disability ratings for each of a veteran’s conditions. Instead, the VA has a chart that assigns a combined disability rating for two individual disability ratings. 

The VA combines multiple disabilities by taking a veteran’s two highest-rated conditions to determine the combined disability rating for those conditions. When a veteran has three or more conditions, the VA takes the combined rating for the two highest-rated conditions and then combines it with the next highest-rated condition to determine the combined disability rating for all three conditions, and so on until the VA has combined all the veteran’s conditions. For example, suppose a veteran’s two most severe conditions have disability ratings of 60 and 40 percent. In that case, the VA assigns a combined disability rating of 76 for those two conditions. Then, suppose the veteran has a third condition rated at 10 percent. In that case, the veteran will have a combined disability rating of 78 for all three conditions, which the VA rounds up to 80 percent for the final rating assigned to the veteran. 

Why Combined Ratings Matter

Combined disability ratings matter for veterans because they can provide them with increased financial benefits and access to additional VA services. Adding in every qualifying medical condition, even if it has a ten percent disability rating, can increase a veteran’s combined disability rating by a few percentage points and allow them to hit the next tier of benefits. Combined disability ratings may also qualify veterans for total disability based on individual unemployment (TDIU) if they have two or more conditions with at least one rated at 40 percent or more and a combined disability rating of 70 percent or more; TDIU provides veterans with monthly compensation and other disability benefits at the 100 percent disability rating level.

What Veterans Should Do

Veterans can help ensure they receive an accurate combined disability rating by keeping comprehensive medical records to document each qualifying condition. Veterans who receive a rating that does not include all their service-connected conditions can appeal their disability rating through the VA’s administrative appeals process. Veterans should consider seeking legal counsel to help them appeal a disability rating decision.  

Contact a VA Disability Lawyer Today

When you have multiple service-connected conditions or secondary conditions caused or aggravated by a primary service-connected condition, you can receive a combined disability rating that will provide you with increased financial benefits from the VA. Contact Veterans Benefits Law Group for a free, no-obligation case evaluation with a VA disability attorney to learn more about how the VA calculates combined disability ratings and why they matter to your case.