Respiratory system
VA rating for asthma, diagnostic code 6602
Diagnostic code 6602 rates bronchial asthma at 10, 30, 60 or 100 percent. Each level offers several independent routes: two of them are pulmonary function measurements, and the others describe treatment. Meeting any one route is what the regulation asks, not meeting all of them.
Published 2026-08-21. Last updated 2026-08-24. Written and reviewed under Veteran Health Network's institutional review process.
What each level requires
asthma is rated under diagnostic code 6602, which the schedule calls "Asthma, bronchial", at 38 CFR 4.97.
100 percent requires
In plain English
Any one of four findings: FEV-1 below 40 percent of predicted, an FEV-1 to FVC ratio below 40 percent, more than one attack a week involving respiratory failure, or daily high dose systemic corticosteroids or immunosuppressive medication.
As written in 38 CFR 4.97
FEV-1 less than 40-percent predicted, or; FEV-1/FVC less than 40 percent, or; more than one attack per week with episodes of respiratory failure, or; requires daily use of systemic (oral or parenteral) high dose corticosteroids or immuno-suppressive medications
60 percent requires
In plain English
Any one of four findings: FEV-1 between 40 and 55 percent of predicted, an FEV-1 to FVC ratio between 40 and 55 percent, at least monthly physician visits for exacerbations, or at least three courses of systemic corticosteroids in a year.
As written in 38 CFR 4.97
FEV-1 of 40- to 55-percent predicted, or; FEV-1/FVC of 40 to 55 percent, or; at least monthly visits to a physician for required care of exacerbations, or; intermittent (at least three per year) courses of systemic (oral or parenteral) corticosteroids
30 percent requires
In plain English
Any one of four findings: FEV-1 between 56 and 70 percent of predicted, an FEV-1 to FVC ratio between 56 and 70 percent, daily inhaled or oral bronchodilator therapy, or inhaled anti-inflammatory medication. A daily inhaler is enough on its own.
As written in 38 CFR 4.97
FEV-1 of 56- to 70-percent predicted, or; FEV-1/FVC of 56 to 70 percent, or; daily inhalational or oral bronchodilator therapy, or; inhalational anti-inflammatory medication
10 percent requires
In plain English
Any one of three findings: FEV-1 between 71 and 80 percent of predicted, an FEV-1 to FVC ratio between 71 and 80 percent, or intermittent inhaled or oral bronchodilator therapy.
As written in 38 CFR 4.97
FEV-1 of 71- to 80-percent predicted, or; FEV-1/FVC of 71 to 80 percent, or; intermittent inhalational or oral bronchodilator therapy
Notes the schedule attaches to this code
These are part of the regulation and they change how the criteria above are applied. They are reproduced word for word.
- Note: In the absence of clinical findings of asthma at time of examination, a verified history of asthmatic attacks must be of record.
Regulation text reproduced from 38 CFR 4.97, read on 2026-08-21. Read the section at the eCFR. Part 4 is amended on a rolling schedule, so the date above is the date this text was checked and not the date it was written.
Reading the 30 percent criterion as the regulation wrote it
Derived from the regulation
The 30 percent level says "FEV-1 of 56- to 70-percent predicted, or; FEV-1/FVC of 56 to 70 percent, or; daily inhalational or oral bronchodilator therapy, or; inhalational anti-inflammatory medication". The semicolons and the repeated "or" are doing structural work: four separate findings are listed, and the regulation asks for one of them.
Two are numbers off a pulmonary function test. The third is daily inhaled or oral bronchodilator therapy. The fourth is inhaled anti-inflammatory medication. A person whose test figures sit above the thresholds can still meet this level through the third or fourth route.
The same construction runs through the whole code. At 60 percent one of the four routes is "at least monthly visits to a physician for required care of exacerbations", which is a fact about a treatment record rather than a measurement.
This describes what the criteria ask. It does not assess any particular record against them.
What the criteria ask to be on paper
Derived from the regulation
Working backwards from the wording, code 6602 asks for two kinds of documentation and treats them as equal. One is spirometry: FEV-1 as a percentage of predicted, and the FEV-1 to FVC ratio. The other is a treatment record specific enough to show what was prescribed, how often it was taken, and how often care was needed.
The schedule attaches one note to this code, and it is about evidence rather than severity: "In the absence of clinical findings of asthma at time of examination, a verified history of asthmatic attacks must be of record."
That note is the only place in code 6602 where history rather than current findings is named, and it is the reason an old diagnosis with no recent attack is not the dead end it looks like.
When the asthma criteria last moved
Derived from the regulation
The criteria above are the product of the 1996 respiratory rewrite, which replaced a schedule that had rated asthma by attack frequency alone.
Appendix A to Part 4 records the amendment history for code 6602 in one line: "Criterion September 9, 1975; criterion October 7, 1996."
The Federal Register line printed under 4.97 belongs to the whole respiratory section, so it moves when any code in it moves: 61 FR 46728, Sept. 5, 1996, as amended at 71 FR 28586, May 17, 2006. Both records were read on 2026-08-21 against the edition current at 2026-08-01.
Questions
Do the pulmonary function numbers have to be taken after a bronchodilator?
Section 4.96(d) of the same part governs how pulmonary function tests are used for ratings, including post-bronchodilator results. It is a separate section from the criteria and it is worth reading alongside them.
See every level beside the regulation it comes from
The rating threshold cheatsheet shows all of the levels for asthma in one view, plain English on the left and the regulation itself on the right, in a layout built to print.
It is free and it never says which level anyone meets. It describes what each one requires and leaves the reading to the person whose record it is.
Sources
- 38 CFR 4.97, Schedule of ratings, respiratory system (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations)
- Appendix A to Part 4, Table of Amendments and Effective Dates Since 1946 (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations)
Accuracy owner Brayden Marley. Part 4 is amended on a rolling schedule, so the retrieval date above is what this page is accurate as of.