The Department of Veterans Affairs pays disability compensation to veterans who suffer impairments due to an injury or illness caused by their military service. However, when a veteran has multiple service-connected conditions, the VA assesses the veteran’s disability rating in a different way than for a veteran with one condition. If you have two or more disabilities due to your military service, you need to know how combined disability ratings in VA disability cases work to ensure you receive the full benefits you deserve.
Why Don’t Ratings Simply Add Up?
The VA determines veterans’ disability ratings on a scale of zero to 100, depending on the severity of the impairment(s) caused by a veteran’s service-connected condition(s). As a result, when a veteran has two or more service-connected conditions, the VA does not simply add the disability ratings for each condition since, for example, a veteran with two conditions rated at more than 50 percent would have a disability rating over 100 percent if the VA added both ratings. The VA’s formula for combining disability ratings effectively assesses the effect of additional conditions on a veteran’s remaining health capacity after factoring in each of a veteran’s service-connected conditions.
How the Combined Ratings Formula Works
The VA’s combined ratings formula uses a table of ratings to assign a combined disability rating. The combined disability ratings process begins by assessing a veteran’s most severe condition (the highest-rated condition). The VA then combines that disability rating with the rating for the veteran’s next highest-rated condition, using the chart to determine the combined rating. The VA then proceeds, in order of severity, with the veteran’s remaining conditions, reaching a final disability rating that the VA rounds up or down to the nearest 10%.
For example, suppose a veteran has one condition rated at 60 percent and another condition rated at 30 percent. In that case, under the VA’s combined ratings table, the veteran would have a combined disability rating of 72, which the VA rounds down to the nearest ten percent – in this case, 70 percent. However, suppose the veteran has a third condition rated at 20 percent. In that case, the VA would take the initial combined rating of 72 and add the 20 percent rating on the chart, resulting in a combined rating of 78, which the VA would round up to 80 percent.
Unfortunately, the VA’s combined ratings formula results in a “ceiling effect,” where each subsequent condition increases the veteran’s combined disability rating less than higher-rated conditions already factored into the combined rating. As a result, veterans with numerous service-connected disabilities may feel the VA has underrated their overall disability.
Special Situations for Combined Ratings
Certain rules governing combined ratings also affect a veteran’s disability compensation. For example, the “pyramiding” rule prohibits veterans from seeking ratings for the same disability or condition under multiple diagnostic codes, preventing a veteran from receiving a combined rating when they have only one medical condition.
Veterans with combined disability ratings may also qualify for Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU) if they cannot work due to their conditions and they have two or more conditions, with at least one condition rated at 40 percent or more and a final combined disability rating of 70 percent or more. TDIU can grant veterans disability compensation at the 100 percent rate even if they have a lower combined disability rating.
Contact Our VA Disability Benefits Attorneys for Knowledgeable Legal Advice
When your military service caused you to suffer multiple disabling injuries or chronic conditions, the VA has a specific process for assessing the combined effect of those conditions when determining the amount of disability benefits you could receive. Contact Kinman Law Office today for a free consultation with a VA disability benefits lawyer to learn more about the VA’s combined disability ratings process and how it may affect your compensation if you have multiple service-related disabling conditions.
