Cardiovascular system
VA rating for hypertension, diagnostic code 7101
Three of the four evaluations under diagnostic code 7101 are pure blood pressure thresholds. The fourth, at 10 percent, adds a clause the others do not have. The regulation calls it a minimum evaluation, and it turns on history and continuous medication rather than on today's readings.
Published 2026-08-21. Last updated 2026-08-24. Written and reviewed under Veteran Health Network's institutional review process.
What each level requires
hypertension is rated under diagnostic code 7101, which the schedule calls "Hypertensive vascular disease (hypertension and isolated systolic hypertension)", at 38 CFR 4.104.
60 percent requires
In plain English
Diastolic pressure predominantly 130 or more.
As written in 38 CFR 4.104
Diastolic pressure predominantly 130 or more
40 percent requires
In plain English
Diastolic pressure predominantly 120 or more.
As written in 38 CFR 4.104
Diastolic pressure predominantly 120 or more
20 percent requires
In plain English
Diastolic pressure predominantly 110 or more, or systolic pressure predominantly 200 or more. Either one is enough.
As written in 38 CFR 4.104
Diastolic pressure predominantly 110 or more, or; systolic pressure predominantly 200 or more
10 percent requires
In plain English
Diastolic pressure predominantly 100 or more, or systolic pressure predominantly 160 or more. There is also a third route into this level that has nothing to do with current readings: a history of diastolic pressure predominantly 100 or more in a person who now requires continuous medication for control. The regulation calls it a minimum evaluation.
As written in 38 CFR 4.104
Diastolic pressure predominantly 100 or more, or; systolic pressure predominantly 160 or more, or; minimum evaluation for an individual with a history of diastolic pressure predominantly 100 or more who requires continuous medication for control
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 (1): Hypertension or isolated systolic hypertension must be confirmed by readings taken two or more times on at least three different days. For purposes of this section, the term hypertension means that the diastolic blood pressure is predominantly 90mm. or greater, and isolated systolic hypertension means that the systolic blood pressure is predominantly 160mm. or greater with a diastolic blood pressure of less than 90mm.
- Note (2): Evaluate hypertension due to aortic insufficiency or hyperthyroidism, which is usually the isolated systolic type, as part of the condition causing it rather than by a separate evaluation.
- Note (3): Evaluate hypertension separately from hypertensive heart disease and other types of heart disease.
Regulation text reproduced from 38 CFR 4.104, 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.
The third clause at 10 percent
Derived from the regulation
The 10 percent criterion is one sentence with three parts: "Diastolic pressure predominantly 100 or more, or; systolic pressure predominantly 160 or more, or; minimum evaluation for an individual with a history of diastolic pressure predominantly 100 or more who requires continuous medication for control"
The first two parts are thresholds on current readings. The third is a different kind of statement. It describes a person whose diastolic pressure was predominantly 100 or more historically, and who now requires continuous medication to control it. Their present readings may be normal because of the medication, which is the point of the clause.
The regulation calls this a minimum evaluation, which is language it uses sparingly. Reading the criterion as three thresholds instead of two thresholds and a history clause changes what the code appears to ask for.
How the section defines its own terms
Derived from the regulation
Note (1) to code 7101 does two things. It requires confirmation by readings taken two or more times on at least three different days, which is an evidentiary rule rather than a severity one. It then defines hypertension for the purposes of the section as diastolic pressure predominantly 90 or greater.
That definition is not the same as the threshold for a compensable evaluation, which sits at diastolic 100 or systolic 160. A diagnosis of hypertension under Note (1) and a 10 percent evaluation are separate questions.
Note (3) then keeps hypertension apart from hypertensive heart disease and other heart disease, directing that they be evaluated separately.
When the current thresholds were set
Derived from the regulation
The numbers in this code are not recent, and knowing when they were fixed helps when comparing them against current clinical guidance.
Appendix A to Part 4 puts three dates on one line for code 7101: "Criterion September 1, 1960; criterion September 9, 1975; criterion January 12, 1998."
The section's own Federal Register line runs far longer, because 4.104 has moved many times for reasons that had nothing to do with blood pressure: 62 FR 65219, Dec. 11, 1997, as amended at 63 FR 37779, July 14, 1998; 71 FR 52460, Sept. 6, 2006; 79 FR 2100, Jan. 13, 2014; 82 FR 50804, Nov. 2, 2017; 86 FR 54093, Sept. 30, 2021; 86 FR 62095, Nov. 9, 2021. Read 2026-08-21.
Questions
Can hypertension be rated if medication has brought the readings down?
The 10 percent criterion contains a clause for exactly that situation: a history of diastolic pressure predominantly 100 or more, in a person who requires continuous medication for control, is described in the regulation as a minimum evaluation.
See every level beside the regulation it comes from
The rating threshold cheatsheet shows all of the levels for hypertension 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 4.104, Schedule of ratings, cardiovascular 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.