I really just want a solid fact on PTSD ratings.
Ok Lex
Yes, the final rate that you receive isn't the sum of each individual thing but a number based on their rating tables. So if you hypothetically get 10% for a leg wound, 15% for nerve damage to your arm, 20% for tinnitus, you wouldn't get a total of 45% from adding the individual amounts together. You would get something like 30%, hypothetically.
I'll have to look at my files as I'm sure that I still have a copy of one of their rating tables around somewhere.
I think they came up with this system to so that people that have more than one wound or condition wouldn't automatically wind up with 100%. I can tell you from experience that I know many vets that had been wounded and received an initial award of 70%, or 80% and went on to apply for PTSD and were rated at 70% for that. Their total comp is now 90%, not 100%. For those that don't have the most severe wounds, loss of limb, ect., it is almost impossible to achieve that holy grail of 100% compensation.Remember almost impossible but not totally impossible.
I hope this has helped.
Jar
I just found the info about rating tables which I found online. I'll post it below.
(Document certified by Superintendent of Documents <
[email protected]>) Signed by Superintendent of Documents
<
[email protected]> Time: 2010.03.03 14:21:27 Z Reason: GPO attests that this document has not been altered
since it was disseminated by GPO Location: US GPO, Washington, DC 20401
§ 4.21
§ 4.21 Application of rating schedule.
In view of the number of atypical instances
it is not expected, especially
with the more fully described grades of
disabilities, that all cases will show all
the findings specified. Findings sufficiently
characteristic to identify the
disease and the disability therefrom,
and above all, coordination of rating
with impairment of function will, however,
be expected in all instances.
[41 FR 11293, Mar. 18, 1976]
§ 4.22 Rating of disabilities aggravatedby active service.
In cases involving aggravation by active
service, the rating will reflect only
the degree of disability over and above
the degree existing at the time of entrance
into the active service, whether
the particular condition was noted at
the time of entrance into the active
service, or it is determined upon the
evidence of record to have existed at
that time. It is necessary therefore, in
all cases of this character to deduct
from the present degree of disability
the degree, if ascertainable, of the disability
existing at the time of entrance
into active service, in terms of the rating
schedule, except that if the disability
is total (100 percent) no deduction
will be made. The resulting difference
will be recorded on the rating
sheet. If the degree of disability at the
time of entrance into the service is not
ascertainable in terms of the schedule,
no deduction will be made.
§ 4.23 Attitude of rating officers.
It is to be remembered that the majority
of applicants are disabled persons
who are seeking benefits of law to
which they believe themselves entitled.
In the exercise of his or her functions,
rating officers must not allow their
personal feelings to intrude; an antagonistic,
critical, or even abusive attitude
on the part of a claimant should
not in any instance influence the officers
in the handling of the case. Fairness
and courtesy must at all times be
shown to applicants by all employees
whose duties bring them in contact, directly
or indirectly, with the Department’s
claimants.
[41 FR 11292, Mar. 18, 1976]
38 CFR Ch. I (7–1–08 Edition)
§ 4.24 Correspondence.
All correspondence relative to the interpretation
of the schedule for rating
disabilities, requests for advisory opinions,
questions regarding lack of clarity
or application to individual cases
involving unusual difficulties, will be
addressed to the Director, Compensation
and Pension Service. A clear
statement will be made of the point or
points upon which information is desired,
and the complete case file will be
simultaneously forwarded to Central
Office. Rating agencies will assure
themselves that the recent report of
physical examination presents an adequate
picture of the claimant’s condition.
Claims in regard to which the
schedule evaluations are considered inadequate
or excessive, and errors in the
schedule will be similarly brought to
attention.
[41 FR 11292, Mar. 18, 1976]
§ 4.25 Combined ratings table.
Table I, Combined Ratings Table, results
from the consideration of the efficiency
of the individual as affected
first by the most disabling condition,
then by the less disabling condition,
then by other less disabling conditions,
if any, in the order of severity. Thus, a
person having a 60 percent disability is
considered 40 percent efficient. Proceeding
from this 40 percent efficiency,
the effect of a further 30 percent disability
is to leave only 70 percent of
the efficiency remaining after consideration
of the first disability, or 28 percent
efficiency altogether. The individual
is thus 72 percent disabled, as
shown in table I opposite 60 percent
and under 30 percent.
(a) To use table I, the disabilities will
first be arranged in the exact order of
their severity, beginning with the
greatest disability and then combined
with use of table I as hereinafter indicated.
For example, if there are two
disabilities, the degree of one disability
will be read in the left column and the
degree of the other in the top row,
whichever is appropriate. The figures
appearing in the space where the column
and row intersect will represent
the combined value of the two. This
combined value will then be converted
to the nearest number divisible by 10,
368
Department of Veterans Affairs
and combined values ending in 5 will be
adjusted upward. Thus, with a 50 percent
disability and a 30 percent disability,
the combined value will be
found to be 65 percent, but the 65 percent
must be converted to 70 percent to
represent the final degree of disability.
Similarly, with a disability of 40 percent,
and another disability of 20 percent,
the combined value is found to be
52 percent, but the 52 percent must be
converted to the nearest degree divisible
by 10, which is 50 percent. If there
are more than two disabilities, the disabilities
will also be arranged in the
exact order of their severity and the
combined value for the first two will be
found as previously described for two
disabilities. The combined value, exactly
as found in table I, will be combined
with the degree of the third disability
(in order of severity). The combined
value for the three disabilities
will be found in the space where the
column and row intersect, and if there
are only three disabilities will be converted
to the nearest degree divisible
by 10, adjusting final 5’s upward. Thus,
§ 4.25
if there are three disabilities ratable at
60 percent, 40 percent, and 20 percent,
respectively, the combined value for
the first two will be found opposite 60
and under 40 and is 76 percent. This 76
will be combined with 20 and the combined
value for the three is 81 percent.
This combined value will be converted
to the nearest degree divisible by 10
which is 80 percent. The same procedure
will be employed when there are
four or more disabilities. (See table I).
(b) Except as otherwise provided in
this schedule, the disabilities arising
from a single disease entity, e.g., arthritis,
multiple sclerosis, cerebrovascular
accident, etc., are to be rated
separately as are all other disabiling
conditions, if any. All disabilities are
then to be combined as described in
paragraph (a) of this section. The conversion
to the nearest degree divisible
by 10 will be done only once per rating
decision, will follow the combining of
all disabilities, and will be the last procedure
in determining the combined
degree of disability.
TABLE I—COMBINED RATINGS TABLE
[10 combined with 10 is 19]
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
19 ............................................................................ 27 35 43 51 60 68 76 84 92
20 ............................................................................ 28 36 44 52 60 68 76 84 92
21 ............................................................................ 29 37 45 53 61 68 76 84 92
22 ............................................................................ 30 38 45 53 61 69 77 84 92
23 ............................................................................ 31 38 46 54 62 69 77 85 92
24 ............................................................................ 32 39 47 54 62 70 77 85 92
25 ............................................................................ 33 40 48 55 63 70 78 85 93
26 ............................................................................ 33 41 48 56 63 70 78 85 93
27 ............................................................................ 34 42 49 56 64 71 78 85 93
28 ............................................................................ 35 42 50 57 64 71 78 86 93
29 ............................................................................ 36 43 50 57 65 72 79 86 93
30 ............................................................................ 37 44 51 58 65 72 79 86 93
31 ............................................................................ 38 45 52 59 66 72 79 86 93
32 ............................................................................ 39 46 52 59 66 73 80 86 93
33 ............................................................................ 40 46 53 60 67 73 80 87 93
34 ............................................................................ 41 47 54 60 67 74 80 87 93
35 ............................................................................ 42 48 55 61 68 74 81 87 94
36 ............................................................................ 42 49 55 62 68 74 81 87 94
37 ............................................................................ 43 50 56 62 69 75 81 87 94
38 ............................................................................ 44 50 57 63 69 75 81 88 94
39 ............................................................................ 45 51 57 63 70 76 82 88 94
40 ............................................................................ 46 52 58 64 70 76 82 88 94
41 ............................................................................ 47 53 59 65 71 76 82 88 94
42 ............................................................................ 48 54 59 65 71 77 83 88 94
43 ............................................................................ 49 54 60 66 72 77 83 89 94
44 ............................................................................ 50 55 61 66 72 78 83 89 94
45 ............................................................................ 51 56 62 67 73 78 84 89 95
46 ............................................................................ 51 57 62 68 73 78 84 89 95
47 ............................................................................ 52 58 63 68 74 79 84 89 95
48 ............................................................................ 53 58 64 69 74 79 84 90 95
49 ............................................................................ 54 59 64 69 75 80 85 90 95
50 ............................................................................ 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95
51 ............................................................................ 56 61 66 71 76 80 85 90 95
52 ............................................................................ 57 62 66 71 76 81 86 90 95
369
§ 4.26 38 CFR Ch. I (7–1–08 Edition)
TABLE I—COMBINED RATINGS TABLE—Continued
[10 combined with 10 is 19]
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
53 ............................................................................ 58 62 67 72 77 81 86 91 95
54 ............................................................................ 59 63 68 72 77 82 86 91 95
55 ............................................................................ 60 64 69 73 78 82 87 91 96
56 ............................................................................ 60 65 69 74 78 82 87 91 96
57 ............................................................................ 61 66 70 74 79 83 87 91 96
58 ............................................................................ 62 66 71 75 79 83 87 92 96
59 ............................................................................ 63 67 71 75 80 84 88 92 96
60 ............................................................................ 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 96
61 ............................................................................ 65 69 73 77 81 84 88 92 96
62 ............................................................................ 66 70 73 77 81 85 89 92 96
63 ............................................................................ 67 70 74 78 82 85 89 93 96
64 ............................................................................ 68 71 75 78 82 86 89 93 96
65 ............................................................................ 69 72 76 79 83 86 90 93 97
66 ............................................................................ 69 73 76 80 83 86 90 93 97
67 ............................................................................ 70 74 77 80 84 87 90 93 97
68 ............................................................................ 71 74 78 81 84 87 90 94 97
69 ............................................................................ 72 75 78 81 85 88 91 94 97
70 ............................................................................ 73 76 79 82 85 88 91 94 97
71 ............................................................................ 74 77 80 83 86 88 91 94 97
72 ............................................................................ 75 78 80 83 86 89 92 94 97
73 ............................................................................ 76 78 81 84 87 89 92 95 97
74 ............................................................................ 77 79 82 84 87 90 92 95 97
75 ............................................................................ 78 80 83 85 88 90 93 95 98
76 ............................................................................ 78 81 83 86 88 90 93 95 98
77 ............................................................................ 79 82 84 86 89 91 93 95 98
78 ............................................................................ 80 82 85 87 89 91 93 96 98
79 ............................................................................ 81 83 85 87 90 92 94 96 98
80 ............................................................................ 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96 98
81 ............................................................................ 83 85 87 89 91 92 94 96 98
82 ............................................................................ 84 86 87 89 91 93 95 96 98
83 ............................................................................ 85 86 88 90 92 93 95 97 98
84 ............................................................................ 86 87 89 90 92 94 95 97 98
85 ............................................................................ 87 88 90 91 93 94 96 97 99
86 ............................................................................ 87 89 90 92 93 94 96 97 99
87 ............................................................................ 88 90 91 92 94 95 96 97 99
88 ............................................................................ 89 90 92 93 94 95 96 98 99
89 ............................................................................ 90 91 92 93 95 96 87 38 99
90 ............................................................................ 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99
91 ............................................................................ 92 93 94 95 96 96 97 98 99
92 ............................................................................ 93 94 94 95 96 97 98 98 99
93 ............................................................................ 94 94 95 96 97 97 98 99 99
94 ............................................................................ 95 95 96 96 97 98 98 99 99
(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1155)
[41 FR 11293, Mar. 18, 1976, as amended at 54 FR 27161, June 28, 1989; 54 FR 36029, Aug. 31, 1989]
§ 4.26 Bilateral factor.
When a partial disability results
from disease or injury of both arms, or
of both legs, or of paired skeletal muscles,
the ratings for the disabilities of
Sorry that the tables are a bit skewed I had a problem converting them. The top number to the right are the current rating that you may have and the ones to the far left are the addition rating you may receive for a particular claim. The total is found by intersecting the two. Hope this sheds some light on the whole thing.
