VA Rating Code Sheet

The VA rating code sheet is an internal document that the Department of Veterans Affairs uses to summarize decisions about a veteran’s disability claims. A rating code sheet will provide a complete overview of a veteran’s service-connected disabilities. It also includes the corresponding diagnostic codes (DCs), effective dates, and the percentage rate that the VA assigns to each condition based on its severity.

The VA uses the code sheet to assign ratings and document service connection for each condition. The code sheet also lists the status of each condition, and may indicate if a disability is static or subject to future review.

Some of the most common sections you’ll see in the rating code sheet include:

• List of service-connected conditions: This section includes the medical condition, diagnostic code, and assigned percentage, which are the individual ratings for each condition.
• Effective dates: These show when each disability rating began.
• Decision codes and annotations: Short codes may indicate whether a condition is considered permanent, static, or subject to future exams.
• Combined rating math: Instead of adding percentages, the VA uses a formula to calculate a combined disability rating. The combined ratings table is used to determine the overall percentage and to identify the highest rating among multiple disabilities.
• Special considerations: You might see notes about bilateral factor, unemployability, or other benefits.
• SC (Service Connected): Confirms the condition is related to military service.
• NSC (Not Service Connected): The condition is not linked to service.
• Static: A condition that is not expected to improve and doesn’t require re-evaluation.
• Permanent: The rating will not change in the future due to age or condition progression.
• Protected: A rating that has been in effect for 10 or 20 years and is shielded from reductions.
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