As a retired military member, working at a VA medical facility, I get TONS of questions that are veteran-related. I will be the first to admit that I do not know everything when it comes to all things “veteran” but I do have some knowledge, and if I don’t have the knowledge, I know who does! One of the misconceptions about service-connected disability percentage ratings is how the specific disabilities add up. There are many individuals that think just that…the rating they get for each service-connected disability just adds up and that is the total percentage. This is incorrect. Here is Public Math or Public VA Disability Math for you…and BTW, this comes from my friend Troy…Thank you Troy!!! (Another veteran who will be doing veteran podcasts with me in the future!)
OK – let’s break this down in food terms! PIE, or maybe a round cake…whatever dessert floats your boat!
- **Start with your biggest slice** Let’s say your biggest disability rating is 50%. That means half of your pie is gone leaving you with 50%.
- **Next slice** If the next rating is 30%, it’s 30%of the remaining half of the pie (50%). That means 15% of the whole pie. Add this to the 50%, making 65%.
- **Add more slices** If you have another rating, say 20%, it’s 20% of the remaining 35% of the pie. That’s 7% of the whole pie. Add this to the 65%, making 72%.
- **Round off** The final percentage (72%) is rounded to the nearest 10%, so your combined rating would be 70%.
Sooooooo, instead of just adding percentages together, each rating takes a percentage of the remaining pie, giving you the combined disability rating.
Annnnnnnndddddd, what does all of this mean? For veterans – hopefully it sheds some light for those who didn’t know exactly how the combined rating was figured. For non – veterans – hopefully you got a little taste of government math. But – for everyone…..it means we all need to get a big glass of brain-freeze-cold milk, hot tea or coffee, grab a slice of pie (or cake) and enjoy our just desserts!
Until next time…xoxo
Tracy
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