VA rating is the system the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) uses to measure the severity of a veteran's service-connected disability.
Here's how the process works:
Determining Disability Severity
The VA determines the severity of your disability by carefully reviewing the evidence related to your claim. This evidence can come from two main sources:
- Evidence you submit: This includes medical reports, doctor's notes, personal statements, and buddy statements.
- Evidence VA obtains: The VA will get relevant documents from your military records.
VA makes a determination about the severity of your disability based on the evidence you submit as part of your claim, or that VA obtains from your military records.
Assigning a Rating Percentage
Based on the determined severity, the VA assigns a percentage rating to each service-connected condition. This rating reflects how much the disability impairs your health and ability to function.
VA rates disability from 0% to 100% in 10% increments (e.g. 10%, 20%, 30% etc.).
| Rating Percentage | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0% | The condition is service-connected but does not meet the threshold for monthly compensation. |
| 10% - 100% | The condition is service-connected and meets the criteria for monthly compensation, with higher percentages indicating greater severity. |
Key Aspects of VA Rating
- Ratings are assigned based on specific criteria outlined in the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD).
- A veteran can have multiple service-connected conditions, each with its own percentage rating.
- If a veteran has multiple service-connected disabilities, the VA uses a specific formula (the "VA math" or combined rating table) to calculate a single, overall combined disability rating. This is not a simple addition of percentages.
Understanding how the VA uses evidence to assign a percentage rating in 10% increments is fundamental to the VA disability claims process.
