Calculator
Why the ratings do not add up
VA does not add ratings together. It applies each one to what is left after the previous one, then rounds to the nearest ten at the final step. That is why three ratings of 30, 20 and 20 combine to 60 rather than 70, and why the total is always lower than the sum.
The ratings
Enter each rating exactly as the decision letter lists it
One line per service-connected condition. The percentage is the only part that has to be filled in. What it is for, and whether it sits on an arm or a leg, change what the page can show you but never change the math on their own.
The arm and leg question is there for one reason. 38 CFR 4.26 adds ten percent when both arms, or both legs, each carry a compensable evaluation, and it is applied before everything else. A calculator that never asks which side a knee is on cannot apply it. The same rule covers paired skeletal muscles; if a decision letter names those, the ten percent works the same way.
The one part you cannot do alone
The math is fixed and nobody negotiates it. The only variable in this equation is what the file documents.
Talk to our case management team. They will tell you what is actually in yours and introduce you to accredited representatives we have vetted.
That happens whether or not you ever become a member of our direct primary care network.
Veterans
Connect with your case manager for a straight read of what your file documents behind that number.
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