Unraveling the Mystery of VA Rating Math: What Every Veteran Needs to Know
The VA’s disability rating system, a complex and often confusing puzzle, has long been a source of frustration for veterans. If you’ve ever looked at your combined disability rating and thought, “How does 30% plus 20% not equal 50%?” — you’re not alone.
This is where the need for expert guidance becomes crucial.
The math used by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) doesn’t follow the straightforward addition we all learned in school. Instead, the VA employs what’s known as the “Whole Person Theory,” a system that ensures no veteran is rated as more than 100% disabled, no matter how many conditions they have.
But how does this work, and what does it mean for your benefits?
Let’s break it down step by step …
The Whole Person Concept: Why 30% + 20% Doesn’t Equal 50%
When rating disabilities, the VA considers a veteran as a whole, functioning person (100%) before assigning percentages to conditions. Each additional disability is subtracted from the remaining percentage rather than added.
For example:
- A veteran with a 30% rating is considered 70% “unaffected”.
- If they receive an additional 20% rating, 20% of the remaining 70%, not 20% of 100%.
- That 20% of 70% equals 14%, which is then added to the existing 30%.
- The new combined rating becomes 44%, which rounds to 40% per VA rules.
This formula continues for multiple ratings, with each new disability percentage applying to what remains of the whole person.
Why Does the VA Use This System?
The VA argues that this approach accurately reflects a veteran’s ability to function as a whole. However, it also means that veterans with multiple disabilities often feel shortchanged, as their total percentage is less than the sum of their individual ratings.
Veterans’ advocates, including Disabled American Veterans (DAV), continue to push for a clearer, more transparent explanation of how ratings are determined to ensure veterans fully understand their benefits.
Understanding Bilateral Factor: Another Layer of Complexity
The Bilateral Factor is another layer of complexity in the VA’s rating system. It comes into play when a veteran has disabilities affecting both arms, legs, or paired skeletal muscles (e.g., knees or shoulders). This factor is designed to provide a slightly higher overall rating for veterans with such conditions.
Here’s how it works:
- The VA adds 10% of the combined total for bilateral disabilities before applying the Whole Person Concept.
- For example, if a veteran has a 20% disability in each leg, the combined value would be 40% after applying the bilateral factor, rather than 36%.
This can help veterans get a slightly higher overall rating.
Source: VA Bilateral Factor Rules – CFR 38
How to Make Sure Your Rating Is Correct …
Given VA math’s complexities, double-checking your ratings and understanding how they were calculated is crucial. Here’s what you can do:
- ✅ File an Appeal if Needed – If you believe your rating is incorrect, you can file a Higher-Level Review or Supplemental Claim to challenge the decision.
- ✅ Use a VA Disability Calculator – Online calculators like this one help estimate combined ratings.
- ✅ Review Your Rating Decision Letter – Check for miscalculations or missing conditions.
- ✅ Seek Help from a VSO or Attorney – Organizations like DAV, VFW, and American Legion have experts who can review your claim and appeal if necessary.
Final Thoughts: Making Sense of the Numbers
The VA’s disability rating system may seem like an unsolvable puzzle, but veterans can take charge of their claims with the proper knowledge. Understanding how ratings are calculated — and how to ensure they’re correct — not only ensures you receive the benefits you’ve earned, but also empowers you in your dealings with the VA.
If your rating doesn’t accurately reflect your disabilities, don’t hesitate to seek assistance. Staying informed and proactive, and taking control of your situation, is the best way to navigate the VA system successfully.
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Cmon Ben. You’re a brilliant guy who’s been advocating for us for a long time buddy. Please dont make yourself look as uneducated as Collins by saying “The VA” PLEASE! “The Veterans Affairs” is so incorrect.
That comes from when it was called the Veterans Administration- as Bernie Sanders called it yesterday on TV. That fool VanOrden calls it “The Veterans Affairs Administration” which shows how dumb he is.
Out…
The way I explain it using a pizza.
If you order one pizza, you get 100% of one pizza. Cut it into ten slices; each piece is 10% of the entire pizza.
Eat two of those slices. You’ve eaten 20% of that pizza, leaving 80% or eight slices.
If you eat another half of what is left, that would be 50% of 80%, which is 40% or four slices. That leaves four slices.
Your buddy visits and eats 50% of that 40%, which is 20% or two slices. That leaves two slices, or 20% of the original 100% 10 slices.
You wake up hungry at 2 am and eat one slice of the two remaining slices, or 50% of 20% = 10%. That leaves 10% or one slice.
Each percentage amount I mentioned did not get added on top of each other (20% plus 50% plus 50% plus 50% = 170%, which would be one whole pizza and seven slices out of another pizza). Instead, it’s deducted from the percentage of that pizza you ordered remaining after the previous slices were eaten because you can only have 100% of one unit, whatever it is, a person, or in this case, a pizza.
That’s the same way VA math works.
Well put!
Yes, this is not the mathematics that normal people ( OLDER ) were educated with, its now called the “NEW MATH”which is the older process, FIGURES DO NOT LIE, LIARS FIGURE! I rest my case.
VHA math…keep services limited and quality low so the well off veterans don’t take advantage of socialized medicine… while a certain number of veterans leave because of denial of care. That’s the cheapest solution.
They should wrap up the VHA and just do 2,000 a month UBI for veterans and people can opt out if they want to practice their bullshit conservatism. That will ensure recruitment goals for the military are also met. This can only stimulate the economy as well. It’s not really that much money and people will spend it on health insurance and essential needs.