Disability ratings undergoing changes

If you receive disability from the Department of Veterans Affairs, your rating might go up. The VA has updated parts of the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities, which is the set of diagnostic codes for 15 different systems of the body.

Current updates being made include infectious diseases, nutritional deficiencies and immune disorders. The schedule is what claims processors use to determine the severity of illnesses

and assign ratings. The plan is to aim for consistency. Other body systems will be updated in the coming months.

If you had a claim in process before Aug. 11, claims processors will review both sets of criteria, and you’ll be given the one that’s more advantageous to you. If you filed after Aug. 11, you’ll be under the new schedule.

To review the schedules, go online to www.benefits. va.gov/WARMS/bookc.asp, the Schedule for Rating Disabilities. My concern is that the newest update shown in the Table of Amendments is 2018, even though it is the link given by the VA and even though they are for the body systems the VA says are now updated. Hopefully the claims processors are working with newer files.

TIP:

If you’re new to filing a claim, know the Veteran Affairs Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD) code for your particular disability. These will be four-digit numbers. Then look them up to be certain the right code was assigned. Not every single medical condition has a code, so the closest one is selected. Be sure you agree. If you don’t, speak up. Go online to research “how to read VA diagnostic codes” as a place to start.

This is not the first schedule update. Starting two years ago, the VA updated schedules for skin conditions, endocrine, gynecological disorders, eye diseases, dental and oral conditions, and the hematologic and lymphatic systems.