VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities Subpart A

When transitioning out of military service, one important step is filing a VA claim for any service-related medical conditions. The Department of Veterans Affairs uses a document called the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD) to evaluate these claims — covering a wide range of conditions, injuries, and diagnoses organized by body system.

Each category includes guidance for VA rating officials on how to evaluate specific conditions, including cases where a veteran has multiple or comorbid issues. Because no document can address every possible medical situation, the VA may request additional time, documentation, or information to properly review a claim.

VASRD Subpart A Evaluation Categories

Subpart A medical evaluation categories include:

• Musculoskeletal System
• Organs of Special Sense
• Impairment of Auditory Acuity
• Infectious Diseases, Immune Disorders, Nutritional Deficiencies
• Respiratory System
• Cardiovascular System
• Digestive System
• Genitourinary System
• Gynecological Conditions, Disorders of the Breast
• Hemic and Lymphatic Systems
• Skin
• Endocrine System
• Neurological Conditions and Convulsive Disorders
• Mental Disorders
• Dental / Oral Conditions

What follows is a review of the medical conditions and review criteria for these categories. When using this page, you can look up each category to reference VA guidelines for evaluating these conditions.

The first section of VASRD are policy-oriented details about the VA approach to rating medical issues for the purpose of assigning disability ratings for each condition. The remaining sections are focused on the conditions and ratings criteria for them.

VASRD Subpart A: General Policy in Rating

This critical portion of the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities guide covers the basic VA approach to evaluating veterans and their medical conditions. It includes basic policy in areas including, but not limited to:

• Essentials of Evaluative Rating
• Interpretation of Examination Reports
• Resolution of Reasonable Doubt/Evaluation of evidence/Higher of two evaluations/Congenital or developmental defects
• Functional Impairment/Effect Change of Diagnosis
• Avoidance of Pyramiding/Total Disability Ratings
• Total Disability Ratings for Compensation Based on Unemployability of the Individual
• Total Disability Ratings for Pension Based on Unemployability and Age of the Individual
• Misconduct Etiology/Unemployability

The VA describes the rating schedule as “a guide in the evaluation of disability resulting from all types of diseases and injuries encountered as a result of or incident to military service,” with an emphasis on representing the average impairment in earning capacity.

VA ratings are not necessarily permanent — conditions require re-evaluation over time, and ratings may be revised if a condition improves or worsens based on how it affects the veteran’s ability to work and perform self-care. The VA requires “accurate and fully descriptive” medical examinations throughout this process.

Use the VA disability calculator to estimate how multiple ratings combine, or learn how to apply for VA disability pay to get started.

Why Two VA Examiners May Rate You Differently

The Department of Veterans Affairs recognizes that different medical professionals may evaluate medical conditions differently. The “variation in rating” section addresses this concern.

“Different examiners, at different times, will not describe the same disability in the same language. Features of the disability which must have persisted unchanged may be overlooked or a change for the better or worse may not be accurately appreciated or described,” according to the VA official site.

It’s written VA policy that the evaluator has a responsibility to rate a veteran’s medical issues, “in the light of the whole recorded history” with the goal of reconciling various medical reports into a coherent medical picture to make sure the current VA disability rating process is accurate and relevant “from the point of view of the veteran working or seeking work.”

VA diagnoses that are not supported by findings of a VA exam, and those that do not have enough information may be rejected by a medical rating board as insufficient to draw a medical conclusion for the purpose of assigning a disability rating.

How the VA Handles Uncertain or Conflicting Evidence

Resolution of reasonable doubt is a serious concern in the evaluation process. What happens if the facts in a given VA medical claim don’t provide a conclusive finding for awarding a medical disability rating? What does the VA choose to do in cases where there is a reasonable doubt as to the degree of disability?

VA policy in this area is written (according to VASRD Subpart A) to favor the service member. VA policy clearly states, “When after careful consideration of all procurable and assembled data, a reasonable doubt arises regarding the degree of disability such doubt will be resolved in favor of the claimant.”

Another serious concern in the process is how medical evidence is evaluated. “Every element in any way affecting the probative value to be assigned to the evidence in each individual claim” must be reviewed as part of the VA claims process. The written policy of the VA is to examine all aspects of a claim and leave no part of it unaddressed.

And this leads us to a third concern addressed in Subpart A: What happens when two VA evaluations do not agree?

Subpart A requires the higher evaluation of the two to be assigned in cases where “…the disability picture more nearly approximates the criteria required for that rating.” Otherwise, Subpart A tells us, the lower rating will be assigned.

Factoring In Congenital Defects Or Related Conditions

What the Department of Veterans Affairs describes in Subpart A as “mere congenital or developmental defects, absent, displaced or supernumerary parts, refractive error of the eye, personality disorder and mental deficiency” are not allowed to be considered as part of a VA disability rating review process.

VASRD Subpart A states, that these “…are not diseases or injuries in the meaning of applicable legislation for disability compensation purposes.”

Important Limits and Exceptions in VA Disability Ratings

Some conditions have rating caps — tinnitus, for example, is currently capped at 10% as a standalone rating, though proposed VASRD changes may eliminate it as a standalone diagnostic code entirely, bundling it into related ear conditions. Others may only qualify for a 0% rating regardless of severity, and VA-imposed caps on certain VA disability rates cannot be exceeded unless changed by legislation or program updates.

Per Section 4.31 of Subpart A: “In every instance where the schedule does not provide a zero percent evaluation for a diagnostic code, a zero percent evaluation shall be assigned when the requirements for a compensable evaluation are not met.”

Over time, some previously contested conditions — such as Agent Orange exposure and Gulf War Syndrome — have been reclassified as “presumptive conditions” and given priority. Not all ratings are permanent; temporary ratings may be assigned for conditions that could improve and are subject to re-evaluation over time.”

How the VA Rates Conditions That Existed Before Service

In cases where the claim is being made for a medical condition that was present before military service, the military member will be compensated (where applicable) based on the percentage of the condition the VA determines was aggravated by military service.

The VA rules here say “the rating will reflect only the degree of disability over and above the degree existing at the time of entrance into the active service” and that is true even in cases where a condition was not observed or recorded at the time of entry into military service.

These decisions, whether in favor of the veteran or not, may be appealed after the official determination is made. There are no guarantees that an appeal will be approved or denied, but it is important to know that the VA claims process does permit appeals and is not a one-decision, one-outcome process.

Once a rating is assigned, knowing your VA disability pay dates helps you plan accordingly.