Rated Too Low? How VA Increases Work

A claim for increase on a condition that got worse

The VA rates current severity. A knee rated 10% in 2015 that now gives out on stairs, or depression that has cost you two jobs, may fit a higher level of the schedule today. You file for the increase and show the change with recent evidence.

Secondary conditions

When a service-connected condition causes or worsens another one, the second condition can be service connected and rated on its own. Nerve pain down a leg from a bad back, depression that grew out of chronic pain, or a hip that wore out from years of favoring a knee are typical examples. A doctor's opinion explaining how one led to the other usually decides these.

Separate ratings inside one condition

Some conditions can carry more than one rating. A knee can be rated separately for limited bending, limited straightening and instability. A back condition can pick up separate ratings for radiculopathy in each leg. Older decisions sometimes missed these.

Conditions you never put on a claim

Tinnitus, hearing loss, sleep apnea, scars and toxic-exposure conditions get skipped all the time. A condition that never made it onto a claim can't be rated, no matter how long you've had it.

TDIU, when work is off the table

If service-connected conditions keep you from steady, gainful work, Individual Unemployability pays at the 100% rate while your combined rating stays where it is.

The VA combines ratings one at a time, largest first, and each new rating only applies to the share of you the VA still counts as able. The final number is rounded to the nearest 10, with 5 going up. Your decision letter shows the rounded number. What matters for your next claim is the unrounded value underneath it.

Take two veterans who both see 80% on their letters:

• Veteran A has ratings of 70 and 30. Combined value: 79, rounded to 80. A new 20% rating adds about 4 points, landing at 83. Still 80%.
• Veteran B has ratings of 70 and 40. Combined value: 82, rounded to 80. The same new 20% adds about 4 points, landing at 86. That rounds to 90%.

Both filed the same claim, and only one moved up. Plug your own ratings into the VA disability calculator to see your unrounded value before you decide what to file.

Three common targets and what each pays a month at 2026 rates:

Raters compare your evidence to the specific criteria for your diagnostic code. The question your evidence has to answer is where your symptoms fall on that schedule today.

• Recent treatment notes that describe symptoms, how often they happen and how severe they are. Ask your provider to record what they observe along with the diagnosis.
• The measurements the schedule uses. Joints and spines are rated largely on range of motion, including where pain starts and how much is lost during flare-ups. Migraines turn on how often attacks force you to stop and lie down, so a headache log helps.
• Proof of how it affects work: missed shifts, a move to lighter duty, a supervisor who changed your schedule, a job you left. Mental health ratings in particular weigh work and social impairment (see the PTSD guide).
• Statements from people around you. A spouse, coworker or friend can describe what they see on days the exam never captures.

One timing rule helps here. If your records show the worsening happened within the year before you filed, the VA can set the effective date as early as the date the increase is shown, instead of the date the claim arrived.

It can happen. A new exam might show improvement in the condition you claimed, and the VA can propose a lower rating. That's why we look at the whole picture before anyone files. Several rules limit the risk:

• Five years at the same level. Ratings that have held steady for five years or more are treated as stabilized under 38 CFR 3.344. The VA has to review the entire record, can't cut a rating for an episodic condition based on a single exam unless all the evidence shows sustained improvement, and has to consider whether any improvement will last under ordinary conditions of life.
• Twenty years at or above a level. Under 38 CFR 3.951(b), a rating held for 20 years or more can't drop below that level except for fraud.
• Ten years of service connection. Service connection in place for 10 years or more generally can't be severed except for fraud or a clear problem with the service or discharge record.

When a reduction would lower your monthly payment, the VA must first send a written proposal explaining why. Under 38 CFR 3.105(e) you get 60 days to send evidence. If you ask for a predetermination hearing within 30 days of that notice, payments stay at the current level until the VA decides.