DoD VS Va rating

I am a newbie lol. I confused about why people are upset about their DoD rating (when VA rating is 100%) what is the difference? I thought the VA rating is the one that actually pays you?

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Edited by Moderator, 21 July 2019.
I thought it is important to add a bottom line up front comment.

Re: Accepting VA Compensation

I have never seen a scenario where a retiree "received less" in total funds by accepting VA compensation.

As most know, CH 61 disability retired pay is reduced by the amount of VA compensation. This is often referred to as VA Offset or VA waiver.

IF the reduction/waiver results in residual (left over) retired pay, the retiree gets to keep it.

Example
: Retiree with $3000 retired pay and the VA compensation amount is $2000.
--Declines VA compensation results in $3000 retired pay each month, likely taxable.
--Accepts VA compensation results in $1000 residual retired pay ($3000-$2000) plus $2000 VA compensation. Total each month=$3000. VA compensation is nontaxable.

If the reduction/waiver is equal to the full amount of retired pay (retiree with less than 20 years AD).


The retiree receives VA compensation and zero retired pay. VA compensation is nontaxable.

Edited to add:
Retirees eligible for CRDP (generally with 50% VA ratings or higher, plus 20 years AD or reservists with 20 good years) can receive residual retired pay plus CRDP not to exceed the dollar amount of the longevity portion of retired pay.

RonG
Moderator
 
Welcome to the PEB Forum! :)

During the DoD IDES MEB/PEB process, you shall receive a set of ratings inclusive of a DoD rating and a DoVA rating.

To that extent within the DoD IDES MEB/PEB process only, the DoVA shall rate all medical condition diagnoses from the PEB referred unfitting conditions, and the VA claimed conditions. The DoD rating (i.e., PEB referred unfitting condition) is taken from the overall DoVA ratings process.

For example, if a military service member had a total of 5 medical conditions: 1 PEB referred unfitting condition and 4 VA claimed conditions. PTSD is the PEB referred unfitting condition and DoVA rated it as 70%; therefore, it's a DoD 70% rating. The remaining 4 VA claimed conditions resulted in 50%, 30%, 20%, 10%; therefore; it's a VA 90% rating.

With that all said, the potential IDES ratings would be DoD 70%, DoVA 90%, hope this helps.

Best Wishes!
 
Ok I understand. How did you get 90%? It added up to 110?
 
It's called VA math. Look at as if you have a condition that is 50% disabling, then that means you are still 50% abled. Now out of that remaining 50% your next condition was 30%. So you take 30% from that 50.
 
Ok I understand. How did you get 90%? It added up to 110?

Good question! :)

The DoVA uses their "own" method in the calcuation of their VA ratings; we call it "VA math" but its official name is "combined ratings table." Thus, 70%+50%+30%+20%+10% yields a combined rating of 93%. But, it's rounded down to an overall 90% because a combined value will be converted to the nearest number divisible by 10, and combined values ending in 5 will be adjusted upward.

Table I--The 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, 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, 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]

xx 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
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)
 
What I found helpful before the table was when I attended the MEB Brief and they drew a circle. They used the same ratings as Warrior did. With the fist one being 50% they shaded in half of the circle. Now you have 30%, so he shaded in 30% of the remaining half of the circle and so on and so forth. VA Math is confusing at first.
 
Ok. Like if the system was not confusing already!! Hahaha thank you guys.
 
No problem, and it will only get more confusing as you go further in the process. LOL Just keep this site handy
 
You are welcome! :)

Thus, the fun as just begun.

Best Wishes!
 
I was working with some of the VA math last week and got a little confused. It looks like you can hit a cap and not be awarded any higher even though you have rated conditions (without capping at 100%)? For example, say you get ratings 60, 50, 40, 10, 10. That would be

60%
50% of remaining 40 = 20
60 + 20 = 80
40% of remaining 20 = 8 (round to 10)
80 + 10 = 90
10% of remaining 10 = 1 (round to 0??)

So in other words, the conditions for 60%, 50%, and 40% would be counted, but essentially the two for 10% each wouldn't ever be considered...is this correct? Or is there some caveat I don't know about?
 
They count, however, they don't impact your rating as much as a 60 or 50. Because you would have to round down if it is under 5 ( for example ,a 64 being a 60). Its all very confusing. just use the rating table that Warrior posted and you can't wrong. Obviously start out with the highest rating and work your way down
 
The best way to understand VA math is to use and study the tables.

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2003-title38-vol1/xml/CFR-2003-title38-vol1-sec4-25.xml

I will try my best to explain them; Following the tables just makes it easy.

Using your 60,50,40,10,10 Example:

60% and 50% (60+20) = 80; No issues here.
80% and 40% (80+8) = 88; No issues here.
88% and 10% (88+1.2) = 89.2; Woah, here comes decimals...This is the one of the quirks to VA math.
89.2 and 10% (89.2+1.08) = 90.28; 90.28 is rounded down, equaling 90%;



The number one thing that i see when dealing with ratings and people getting confused. Is the omitting of decimals; The decimals can make or break the whole thing; It is not immediately reflected within the tables; but upon some studying, there are single digit "jumps" in the tables; where when working with only whole numbers, the numbers don't match up, but to be easier to understand, the DoD appears to have omitted the decimals in the tables, but still uses them in the calculation. Here is another example of how decimals truly matter;

60,50,30,20,10,10

60% and 50% (60+20) = 80; No issues here.
80% and 30% (80+6) = 86; no issues here.
86% and 20% (86+2.8) = 88.8; Here is where you would see a "Jump", with whole numbers only, this would appear as 88; but decimals force it to 89 in the tables, but the VA still uses the 88.8 as the number;
88.8% and 10% (88.8+1.12) = 89.92; Same applies
89.92% and 10% (88.92+1.008) = 90.928; Whole numbers would make you believe that you were a small bit higher, or lower than actual. Rounding gives a VA rating of 91% (90% for compensation purposes)

Moral of the story, remember the decimals when working your own math; Otherwise, use the tables.

If you want to cheat; then use this. (just found it, pretty slick)
http://www.hadit.com/service_connected_disabilities_rating_calculator.php/
 
So what is the difference between the ratings. I fully understand that 30%+ from dod qualifies you for retirement which then makes you eligible for retiree benefits but is that it? From my understanding the VA is where the money comes into play. I'm really confused about the importance of the dod rating (as long as it's above 50%) any help is greatly appreciated.
 
So what is the difference between the ratings. I fully understand that 30%+ from dod qualifies you for retirement which then makes you eligible for retiree benefits but is that it? From my understanding the VA is where the money comes into play. I'm really confused about the importance of the dod rating (as long as it's above 50%) any help is greatly appreciated.


For most people the VA rating does matter the most. If retired, other programs are available (CRSC), which could bring up one's tax-free compensation several hundred dollars/month. This in addition to Tricare are the two big issues making medical retirement a much better outcome.

30% is the lowest DOD number to qualify for medical retirement. For a dollars and sense idea check out this calculator:

http://www.dfas.mil/militarymembers/woundedwarrior/disabledretireest.html
 
Sweet calculator! I used to call VA Math "artillery expression" or "arty math" because it would irritate me the same way due to its inconsistencies.

All that aside, welcome to the gang. You have questions, these guys got answers!
 
So what is the difference between the ratings. I fully understand that 30%+ from dod qualifies you for retirement which then makes you eligible for retiree benefits but is that it? From my understanding the VA is where the money comes into play. I'm really confused about the importance of the dod rating (as long as it's above 50%) any help is greatly appreciated.

VA is not always the best route to take, especially if someone is a high ranking officer and would get paid a lot more by taking the DoD percentage.
 
I'm a sgt promotable now which will lead to me being promoted on the day of retirement. I'm tracking the 30% and above for the retirement which will then allow me the insurance benefit. I'm starting to get nervous about what my va ratings might be. I have PTSD and Tbi, a torn labrum (all the way around my shoulder) an issue with my back and my knee cap has shifted outward but the only medical treatment I've received is tape to my knee cap. I get that on the dod side I'm already at 50% for PTSD but I'm worried about my va ratings.
 
How will you get promoted at retirement?
 
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