How VA Combines Multiple Disability Ratings

Start With the Whole-Person Method

VA combines service-connected evaluations instead of adding them. Each additional disability is considered against the capacity remaining after the previous disabilities. This explains why several percentages that add to more than 100 do not automatically produce a 100% combined rating.

Use the official Combined Ratings Table for an actual check. The examples here explain arithmetic only. They do not predict what rating any diagnosis deserves, whether symptoms can receive separate evaluations, or what evidence would establish entitlement. First confirm the individual ratings that VA actually awarded.

Sources: VA: About Disability Ratings · 38 CFR 4.25: Combined Ratings Table

Work Through an Example Without Early Rounding

Suppose the individual evaluations are 60%, 40%, and 20%, with no bilateral-factor complication. The official table combines 60 and 40 to produce 76. Combine that intermediate value with 20 to obtain 81. Only after all three are combined do you round to the nearest multiple of ten, producing 80%.

Rounding 76 to 80 before combining the final condition changes the process and can give the wrong answer. Keep the intermediate table values on paper. Arrange the evaluations from highest to lowest, use the table at each step, and perform the final nearest-ten conversion once.

Sources: 38 CFR 4.25: Combined Ratings Table

Understand an Unchanged Combined Percentage

A new service-connected award can increase the underlying combined value without crossing the next rounding boundary. For example, combining 40% with 20% gives 52, which rounds to 50%. The two individual evaluations remain 40 and 20; neither becomes 52 or 50 individually.

An unchanged displayed total therefore does not by itself show that VA forgot a condition. Compare the individual award list, effective dates, and calculation. Conversely, a familiar-looking total does not prove everything was included correctly. You need the inputs as well as the result to check the arithmetic.

Sources: 38 CFR 4.25: Combined Ratings Table · VA: View Your Disability Ratings

Check Whether the Bilateral Factor Applies

Certain compensable disabilities affecting paired arms, paired legs, or paired skeletal muscles require a bilateral-factor calculation. This is not an automatic bonus for any two conditions. Where applicable, the rule adds 10% of the relevant combined value before further combinations; it does not simply add ten percentage points to your final rating.

The current rule also includes an exception requiring a more favorable calculation when applying the factor to all eligible disabilities would produce a lower combined evaluation. If several paired-limb conditions are involved, ask for the actual calculation rather than relying on a calculator whose bilateral settings you cannot inspect.

Sources: 38 CFR 4.26: Bilateral Factor

Make a Rating Calculation Worksheet

Gather the latest decision and any earlier decisions covering the period you want to check. A condition may have different evaluations over time, so one present-day list cannot necessarily explain an earlier payment period. Label each worksheet with the date range it covers.

If your result differs from VA’s, first look for a missing condition, an incorrect effective date, early rounding, or an unhandled bilateral factor. Describe the discrepancy precisely when requesting help. A worksheet with the inputs and intermediate values is easier to examine than a screenshot of an unexplained calculator result.

• List every service-connected condition and its evaluation.
• Record the beginning and ending dates of each evaluation.
• Flag paired-extremity conditions for bilateral-factor review.
• Keep the table steps and the final rounding calculation.

Sources: VA: View Your Disability Ratings · VA: Effective Dates · 38 CFR 4.25: Combined Ratings Table

Separate the Calculation From Other Benefits

Your combined rating helps determine basic compensation, but payment also depends on applicable dependency and other benefit rules. Individual Unemployability can pay at the total-disability level without changing the underlying combined rating. Special monthly compensation has separate qualifying requirements.

If the combined calculation is correct but you think a condition was evaluated too low, the problem concerns that condition’s evaluation rather than the arithmetic. If work limitations are the concern, investigate the work-related benefit rules directly. These distinctions help you choose useful evidence and avoid repeatedly running calculations that cannot answer the real question.

Sources: VA: Current Veterans Disability Compensation Rates · VA: Individual Unemployability · VA: Special Monthly Compensation Rates

Common Questions