How Va Decides Effective Dates For Back Pay
Retro benefits are tied to the effective date of the claim. The rule is that the effective date is typically the date the veteran files the current claim. Sometimes a veterans retro benefits do not go back all the way to the start of the claim. In these cases, it is important to review the evidence listed in the decision. The VA may be using an incorrect exam or medical record as the date the problem started or getting worse.
A lot of times the retro benefits decision can be appealed. The benefits should go back to the date of the claim. The veteran may have an entitlement to retroactive benefits because the problem did not start when the veteran went to the VA exam for the problemit started when the veteran filed the claim.
Logically, the reason that a military veteran is filing for VA disability compensation is that the medical issue already existed due to active service or the medical issue has begun to impact their attendance at work or ability to perform daily tasks.
There are multiple ways to get the effective date, and retro benefits, backdated before the current compensation claim. If a veteran had previously filed for compensation benefits on the same issue then there are exceptions that can get the veteran retro benefits back years, decades even for some service members.
How Long Does Va Take For Back Pay
You have received an award for retro or VA back pay and you want to know how long it will take for the VA to pay you your disability benefits. Well, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, once a veteran receives a rating of 10% or more, they will receive a payment within 15 days of the grant of their disability claim.
However, this is not always the case. Oftentimes, the start date for your VA disability back pay is held up for several months delaying the lump sum payment or monthly payment. The VA can hold up payment on disability compensation due to several issues:
How Does Va Calculate Back Pay
Retro back pay VA benefits can be difficult to calculate if there are changes from the date of the retro payment to the date of the rating decision. There are multiple factors that come into play that can directly impact the payment amount such as:
If a veteran is already rated, to accurately estimate retro benefits vets have to calculate the difference between what he or she was paid and what he or she should have been paid. For example, if the veteran was paid at 50% for PTSD or exposure to Agent Orange before this decision and now they will be paid at 70% plus individual unemployability for PTSD, then their retroactive VA disability pay will be the difference between the two going back to the effective date.
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Assistance With Claims And Appeals
Veterans may work with an accredited attorney, claims agent, or Veterans Services Officer to file your claim or appeal. These professionals are trained and certified in the VAs claims and appeals processes, making them well-equipped to answer your questions, meet your needs, and get you the disability compensation you deserve.
VA Disability Group PLLC is ready to take on your claim to get you the compensation you qualify for. Contact us online or call us at 1-844-VET-LAWS to request a consultation now.
Va Combined Ratings Table
You may find this combined rating table helpful if youre trying to figure out the math manually.
Take 30% disability as a starting point and scroll down the left column of the combined rating table until you find the number 30. Go to the right column and look for 20. The 30 and 20 combine to make 44. Assuming these are your only two ratings, your service-connected disability rating would be 44%, which rounds down to 40%. However, we aren’t done yet. Two more 10% ratings need to be added.
The left column should be the starting point again. Using the left column, find the 44. You will then need to find the intersection point between the 44 and the 10. There is a 50% change in your rating. You can repeat this once more, starting with 50 and ending with 10. As a result, your combined rating is now 55%, rounded to 60%.
Table Instructions
One should list disabilities in descending order. To find the intersection point between the highest and next highest disability rating, start with the highest disability rating and move left. These two disabilities are combined in this rating. You can round up or down to the nearest number divisible by ten if these are the only two disabilities you have . You should repeat this process until all disability ratings have been calculated.
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How Does A Va Disability Rating Calculator Work
The VA benefits calculator on this page combines ratings using a specific equation to tell you your final combined disability rating. You simply input the specifics about your service-connected injuries, and we will do the necessary math to compute a total score.
Depending on what stage of the claim process you are in, you may just be double-checking to see why you got the rating you did, or you could be trying to predict what rating you will receive from VA. Either way, this VA calculator can help provide insight as to how combined ratings are decided.
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How To Use The Va Disability Pay Calculator
To calculate your disability rating, take a look at your VA disability compensation award letter and select your official rating.
Next, select the number of dependents in each applicable category.
Then, select the appropriate box for your marital status, and whether or not your spouse needs Aid and Attendance benefits.
Once youve filled out everything, toggle the switch for monthly or annual compensation and hit calculate. .
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What If I Have More Than One Disability
We use a method called the whole person theory to determine what we call your combined disability rating. We do this to make sure that your total VA disability rating doesnt add up to more than 100%. Thats because a person cant be more than 100% able-bodied.
Read below to find out more about how we calculate your combined disability rating.
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Using The Va Combined Rating Table To Calculate Your Va Disability Rating
For all the confusion around VA math, determining your disability rating using the Combined Rating Table is actually pretty straightforward. Weve reproduced the VA Combined Rating Table in full at the bottom of this post for your reference. To use the rating table, you need to start with the highest disability percentage, and from there arrange them in order of severity, highest to lowest. Find the highest disability in the left column and the next highest disability in the top row. The number where the column and row meet will represent the combined value of both disabilities. So, returning to the example of John, we find the number at the intersection of Johns 60% PTSD rating and his 30% disabling back injury, which is 72%.
Next, we use this combined value of 72% for the left column, and then find the next highest disability on the top row, which is Johns 10% left knee. The number at the intersection of 72% and 10% is 75%.
Repeating the same process once more, we use 75% for the left column and find the 10% for hearing loss in the top row, giving us 78%. The last step is to round up or down to the nearest 10. Thats how the VA arrived at that 80% rating for Johns combined disabilities.
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What Is Va Disability Back Pay
Typically, The Department of Veterans Affairs pays a military service veteran beginning on the date that the veteran filed a claim. Most of the time, that is months or years before the veterans claim is approved. Once the veterans claim is approved, they receive their new rate every month going forward. But the VA must also pay back paythe retro paymentto the date of the claim.
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How The Va Rates Multiple Disabilities
The Veteran with the knee injury outlined above illustrates the most basic disability rating situation. Having more disability ratings makes things more interesting. Based on our previous profile, let’s look at an example.
The 40-year-old retiree will have to satisfy a few conditions. We’ll assume our retiree has the following ratings for his service-connected disability:
- In the example above, his right knee received a 10% rating
- An injury to the back is given a 30% rating
- An injury to the right shoulder is given a 20% rating
- A 10% rating is applied to hearing loss
Calculate Combined Disability Ratings Using Va Math
The VA uses a descending efficiency scale for its calculations. The VA will give each injury or illness a numerical rating.
When it comes time to determine the overall rating, the VA will start with the highest rating, then work its way down. You will always begin with an efficiency rating of 100. Each new disability gives you a new baseline.
We start by racking and stacking the disabilities. In the example above, we have ratings of 30%, 20%, 10% and 10%. We start with the 30%, then factor in the 20%, the 10% then the final 10%.
Again, we arent subtracting here were doing VA math.
You start with your efficiency rate of 100, multiply it by your disability rating, then subtract the result from your original rating.
In this case, you would multiply 30% times 100 and get 30. You subtract that from 100 and come up with 70.
Your new efficiency rating is 70, and your disability rating is 30.
This is the starting point for the next calculation. You repeat the process for the next rating. You take 20%, multiply it by 70, and come up with 14. You subtract 14 from 70, and you get 56.
Your new efficiency rating is 56, and your disability rating is 44. You repeat the process for each additional disability rating.
Caption: The VA rounds final ratings to the nearest 10 . Approximately symbols in the example above indicate rounding to the nearest whole number.
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How Does The Va Disability Retro Calculator Work
The VA disability retro calculator calculates your retroactive benefits by asking several straightforward questions. Veterans simply type in the answers to get an immediate estimate. The first question asks the veteran to enter the date on which he or she should have gotten a larger disability payment than was received. If there is a stop date to indicate a staged rating, the veteran enters that date in the following field. The VA disability retro calculator then asks the veteran to specify the benefit rate VA should have been paying at that time. Rating percentages, ranging from 0 to 100 in 10 percent increments, are presented in a drop-down list. Next, the calculator asks the veteran to indicate the benefit rate he or she was actually receiving. Answer choices are again presented in the above-mentioned drop-down list format.
The final questions ask about marital status along with the number of dependent parents and children, if any. Once completed, the veteran clicks Submit and the VA disability retro calculator displays an approximate dollar-figure amount he or she is owed in disability back pay.
Va Disability Rating Calculator For Veterans
We provide this free VA benefits rating calculator to help you compute your VA disability rating. In VA math 80% disability plus another 20% disability doesnt add up to a 100% disability rating. Follow the steps below and well see if we can help you get the rating you deserve. We use all of the current ratings and update the calculator regularly. You dont need a VA disability math chart with our handy calculator.
These rates are effective from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023, so while the law was passed in 2022, these are considered the 2023 VA disability rates.
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Calculating Combined Disability Ratings Using Va Math
Calculations are based on a descending efficiency scale used by the VA. They will assign a numerical rating to each injury or illness. VA ratings are determined by starting with the highest rating and working their way down. As a starting point, you will always have a rating of 100. With every new disability, you have a new baseline to start from.
Stacking and racking disabilities are the first step. Based on the example above, we have ratings of 30%, 20%, and 10%. The 30% is added first, then the 20%, then the 10%, and then the final 10%. Again, we’re not subtracting here we’re doing VA math.
The efficiency rate of 100 is multiplied by the disability rating, then subtracted from the original rating. The answer would be 30 if you multiplied 30% by 100. The result is 70 when you subtract 100 from it. You now have a rating of 70 for efficiency and 30 for disability.
The next calculation will be based on this point. When you are done with the rating, you repeat the process. Taking 20% and multiplying it by 70 gives you 14. By subtracting 14 from 70, you are left with 56. As a result, your efficiency rating has decreased to 56, and your disability rating has increased to 44. For every additional disability rating, you need to repeat the process.
How Does The Va Calculate Your Compensation
After you apply for disability benefits, the VA will review your application and supporting documentation to assign a combined disability rating. Your condition has to be service-connected, and there are specific criteria for determining that. Assuming it is, however, the VA will give a rating in ten percent increments, from 10% to 100%. The percentage is supposed to be a reflection of the severity of the disability.
The phrase combined disability rating sometimes trips up veterans who have more than one service-connected disability. For instance, you may have two conditions rated at 40% and 20%, and assume you can just add them up to 60%. But the VAs calculation of your disability rating is not additive that is, the VA doesnt simply add percentages to each other.
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How To Calculate Your Combined Va Disability Rating
The VA uses the combined ratings table to determine a final disability rating for a veteran with multiple disabilities.
To use this table, you must first list each of your disability ratings in order of severity . Find the first one in the left column, and then find where it intersects with the top column number representing your second highest disability rating. Round to the nearest 10 if those are your only two ratings. If not, put the number from the intersection point in the left column, then find where it intersects with the top row number representing your third-highest percentage.
Repeat this process until you have run the numbers for all disability ratings, then round to the nearest 10.
For example, a veteran rated for a 50% disability and a 30% disability, would receive a combined rating of 65%, which the VA rounds to the nearest 10, so 70%.
In a different example on the VA official site, a veteran rated with two disabilities at 40% and 20% has a combined value of 52%. The VA rounds that number down to 50%.
Start Va Back Pay / Retro Calculator
The button below will take you to the calculator. By clicking the button below, you acknowledge that this calculator is meant to be an estimation of your possible retro benefits. By no means is this program meant to produce an exact amount of your VA disability benefits or your exact VA disability rating, compensation rates may vary slightly from case to case
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