If you’re a veteran navigating the Veterans Administration (VA) disability system, you may have encountered a confusing phenomenon: when you add up your individual disability ratings, the total doesn’t match your combined VA disability rating. For example, you might have a 30% rating for one condition, 20% for another, and 10% for a third, expecting a 60% combined rating, only to discover the VA has assigned you 50%. This isn’t a mistake or an attempt to shortchange veterans. It’s the result of a unique calculation method used by the VA that often leaves veterans scratching their heads.
The Logic Behind VA Calculations and The Combined VA Disability Rating
The Department of Veterans Affairs doesn’t use simple addition when combining multiple disability ratings. Instead, they use a system based on the concept that each additional disability affects the veteran’s remaining level of efficiency, not their total capacity. In other words, the VA views each condition as impacting what’s left of your ability to function, rather than adding directly to your overall disability percentage.
The underlying principle is straightforward: if you’re already 30% disabled, you’re considered 70% efficient. The next disability rating doesn’t apply to your full capacity. Rather, it applies to that remaining 70% of efficiency. This approach reflects the idea that disabilities compound upon each other rather than simply stacking in a linear fashion.
How the Calculation Works for The Combined VA Disability Rating
To get a better understanding of how VA calculations work, let’s walk through a practical example. Imagine a veteran with three service-connected conditions:
Condition A: 40% rating
Condition B: 30% rating
Condition C: 20% rating
Most people would add these together and expect 90% (40 + 30 + 20 = 90). However, the VA calculates it differently.
First, start with the highest rating: 40%. This means the veteran is considered 60% efficient (100% – 40% = 60%).
Next, apply the second rating (30%) to the remaining efficiency. Take 30% of that remaining 60%: 60% × 0.30 = 18%. Add this to the first rating: 40% + 18% = 58%. Now the veteran is 42% efficient.
Finally, apply the third rating (20%) to this new remaining efficiency. Take 20% of 42%: 42% × 0.20 = 8.4%. Add this to the previous total: 58% + 8.4% = 66.4%. The VA then rounds to the nearest 10% (rounding up at 5% or higher), resulting in a final combined VA disability rating of 70%, not 90%.
The Rounding Rule
An important aspect of the VA’s calculation is the rounding convention. The VA only assigns disability ratings in 10% increments (except for certain specific ratings like 0%, 50%, 70%, and 100%). When your calculated combined VA disability rating includes a decimal or falls between these increments, the VA rounds to the nearest 10%.
The rule is simple: if the calculation results in a number ending in 5 or higher (like 65%, 75%, 85%, or 95%), it rounds up to the next 10%. If it’s 4 or lower (like 64%, 74%, 84%, or 94%), it rounds down. This rounding rule can mean the difference between compensation levels, which is why veterans often find themselves at 90% instead of the hoped-for 100%, or at 70% instead of 80%.
A veteran with a calculated rating of 94.4% will receive a 90% combined VA disability rating, while someone at 94.5% will receive 100%. That seemingly small 0.1% difference can have significant financial implications, as the compensation difference between 90% and 100% is substantial—not to mention the additional benefits that come with a 100% rating.
Why This System Exists
The VA’s approach to determining a combined VA disability rating isn’t arbitrary. It’s designed to recognize that the human body and mind don’t experience disability in a purely additive way. When you have multiple conditions, they don’t necessarily create completely separate and independent impairments that can be added together.
For instance, if you have a knee injury that limits your mobility by 20% and a separate ankle injury that limits you by 10%, these conditions don’t combine to create a 30% limitation. Instead, the ankle injury affects your already-reduced mobility, creating a compounding but not fully additive effect.
Additionally, this system acknowledges that a person can only be 100% disabled. If the VA simply added percentages together, someone with four 30% ratings would theoretically be 120% disabled, which doesn’t make logical sense. The VA’s approach ensures that as you accumulate more disabilities, you asymptotically approach 100% without exceeding it.
The Bilateral Factor
The complexity of the VA’s calculations increases when dealing with bilateral disabilities, which are conditions affecting paired body parts like arms, legs, eyes, or ears. When you have disabilities on both sides of your body, such as radiculopathy in both legs or arms, arthritis in both ankles, or bilateral plantar fasciitis, the VA applies an additional “bilateral factor” before combining with other ratings.
Here’s an example how this works: First, combine the ratings for the paired body parts using the standard VA Math approach. Then, take 10% of that combined value and add it to the total. This bilateral factor recognizes that having disabilities on both sides of the body creates a greater overall impairment than two unrelated disabilities of the same percentages.
For example, let’s say you have a 30% rating for your right knee and a 20% rating for your left knee, you’d first combine them (resulting in 44%), then add the bilateral factor (10% of 44% = 4.4%), giving you 48.4%, which rounds to a 50% combined VA disability rating. This is higher than what you’d get if these were two unrelated conditions at the same percentages.
Common Misconceptions on The Combined VA Disability Rating System
Many veterans assume the VA is making calculation errors or deliberately lowballing their ratings when they discover their combined VA disability rating is lower than expected. However, it is important to understand that the rating calculation is a legislatively mandated system, not a discretionary decision by VA raters. The ratings specialists are following federal regulations, not inventing creative ways to reduce compensation.
Another misconception is that smaller ratings don’t matter. Some veterans question whether it’s worth fighting for a 10% rating when they already have other service-connected conditions. However, every additional rating does increase your combined percentage, even if not in a 1:1 fashion. That 10% rating could be the difference between a 70% and an 80% combined VA disability rating, depending on your other conditions.
Strategies for Veterans
Understanding how the VA calculates disability ratings can help you make informed decisions about your VA disability benefits claim. When you’re close to the next rating threshold, pursuing an increase for an existing condition or filing for a new service-connected condition becomes particularly valuable.
You can find VA combined ratings tables online or use our VA disability calculator to estimate your combined rating before applying. This helps set realistic expectations and allows you to prioritize which conditions to pursue or appeal.
Remember that individual condition ratings are based on the severity of symptoms and their impact on your ability to work and function, not on getting to a specific combined percentage. Focus on documenting how your conditions actually affect your daily life, and let the VA disability benefit math work itself out from there.
Have Questions? Speak to an Experienced VA Disability Benefits Attorney
It’s fair to describe VA disability math as counterintuitive and confusing. We understand and appreciate the fact that you may be feeling frustrated when your combined VA disability rating doesn’t add up. If you find yourself in this situation, consider reaching out to an experienced Veterans Disability Benefits Lawyer with Bross Frankel PA for guidance.
An attorney with our firm can help you prepare for, and attend the hearings before decision review officers and veterans law judges. An attorney can also provide sound legal advice and help guide you through the benefits application process. For example, Richard Frankel has put his knowledge as a disability benefits advocate to work in representing veterans in the unique area of disability compensation benefits. He has taught other lawyers the VA claims process, and contributed a chapter to a book dedicated to educating attorneys on the pitfalls of representing veterans in VA disability benefit claims.
To schedule a free, confidential case evaluation, call Bross Frankel PA at (856) 795-8880 or contact us online.
Jennifer Stonage is a Senior Associate Attorney at Bross & Frankel, P.A. and primarily assists with the firm’s Veteran’s Benefits matters. She believes that the veterans who served our country are entitled to the help and compensation they are entitled to, and will put her knowledge to work to secure the highest possible compensation ratings. The VA process can be incredibly tricky to navigate. Let somebody who knows the system work to help you.