The decision arrives in your mailbox or as a notification on VA.gov, and it is a stack of pages full of percentages, diagnostic codes, effective dates and paragraphs of "reasons and bases" that read as if they were written for a lawyer. This guide goes through it line by line in plain English, so you know what you got and what to do about it.
What you are holding
Your decision usually comes in two parts. The notification letter is the short version with the bottom line. The Rating Decision, sometimes called the "reasons and bases" or the code sheet, is the longer document that shows the work. A lot of vets read the first page, see a number and stop. The details that decide how much you get paid, and whether it is worth challenging, live in the long part.
Read the whole thing. Then read it again with a highlighter.
The combined rating
This one trips up almost everybody. The VA does not add your ratings together. A 50 percent condition and a 30 percent condition do not make 80 percent. It feels like they should, but the regulation works differently.
The VA uses what people call "VA math," spelled out in 38 CFR 4.25. Each rating applies to whatever is left of you after the one before it. Start with the 50 percent. In the VA's eyes that leaves you 50 percent "whole." The 30 percent condition takes 30 percent of that remaining 50, which is 15. Add the 15 back to your original 50 and you land at 65. The VA then rounds to the nearest 10, so your combined rating comes out to 70 percent.
That is why a combined rating rarely equals the sum of its parts. It is not a mistake, and the VA is not shorting you. Your "combined evaluation" is the number your monthly check is based on, so find that figure first.
Reading each condition
Under the combined number, the letter breaks out every condition you claimed. For each one, four things matter: whether it was granted or denied, the percentage, the diagnostic code and the effective date.
Granted at a percentage
Check that the percentage and the diagnostic code match the symptoms you live with. The VA rates every condition against a specific list of criteria in the rating schedule. If the number does not line up with the impairment you deal with day to day, that is your first flag that something might be off.
Denied
Read the reason. It almost always comes down to one of three things: no current diagnosis, no proof of an in-service event or exposure, or no nexus tying the two together. The reason tells you which piece of evidence is missing, and that tells you what to go get.
Deferred
Deferred does not mean denied. It means the VA needs more time or more evidence on that condition before it can decide. Anything that was granted still takes effect now. Watch your mail and VA.gov for a follow-up request on the deferred item, and answer it fast.
The effective date
The effective date controls how far back your pay goes, and getting it wrong costs you a month of pay for every month the date is late.
The rule is 38 CFR 3.400, and the short version is this. Your effective date is usually the day you filed, or your Intent to File date if you locked one in, or the date your entitlement arose, whichever is later. There is one exception worth real money. If you filed within a year of leaving service, a granted claim can reach back to the day after your discharge. For many vets that is a bigger chunk of back pay than they expect.
Do the math yourself. Look at the effective date on each granted condition and compare it with when you filed or when you got out. If the VA used a later date than it should have, that alone can be worth challenging, even if the percentage is fine. An effective date pushed back a few months is real money you already earned.
Reasons for decision
This section reads like homework, and it is the most useful part of the packet. It lays out which evidence the VA looked at and which rating criteria it applied to land on your number. Read it closely and you can usually see why you ended up where you did.
Sometimes you will notice the VA never mentioned a record you know you sent in. Sometimes you will see it applied the wrong criteria or measured the wrong thing. Either one gives you a specific, documented reason to push back. Specifics are what win a challenge.
If the rating is low or denied
You have one year from the date on the decision to challenge it, and three lanes to choose from.
- A Supplemental Claim fits when you have new evidence the VA has not seen, like a nexus letter, a fresh exam or records you did not have the first time. You add to the pile.
- A Higher-Level Review fits when you have no new evidence but believe the VA made a mistake with what you already gave it. A more senior reviewer takes a fresh look at the same file. You cannot add new evidence in this lane, but you can ask for an informal conference call to walk the reviewer to the error, and taking that call is usually worth it.
- A Board Appeal sends your case to a Veterans Law Judge. It is the most thorough option and the slowest, often a year or more, so most people try a Supplemental Claim or a Higher-Level Review first.
You do not have to pick the lane alone. A VA-accredited VSO will read the decision with you and tell you which one fits, for free. Do not let the one-year clock run out.
Traps to avoid
- Granted does not mean finished. A wrong percentage or a wrong effective date is still worth a second look.
- Deferred is a pause, not a no.
- Keep the packet somewhere safe. You will need it for any appeal, any increase down the road and any time you add a dependent.
The short version
Find your combined rating and remember it is whole-person math, not addition. Check every condition for the percentage, the code and the effective date. Read the reasons section to see how the VA got there. If the effective date is off or the rating is low, you have a full year and three ways to push back.
VA Ready has a plain-English guide to reading your decision letter built in, and the app maps your next step from what your letter said: accepting it, going for an increase later, or picking the appeal lane that fits. The core tools are free, and your information never leaves your device.