Increase Your VA Disability Rating

1. Ask for more on a condition that’s gotten worse

Ratings are supposed to reflect how severe a condition is now, measured against the rating schedule in 38 CFR Part 4. When PTSD, migraines, a bad back or a knee has progressed past what your percentage describes, a claim for increase backed by recent treatment records can bring the rating up to date.

2. Add secondary conditions

One service-connected problem often leads to another, and the second one gets its own rating. Think depression or sleep apnea that follows PTSD, nerve pain down the leg from a lumbar spine condition, or a hip that wears out because you’ve favored a bad knee for years.

3. File for what you never claimed

Hearing loss, tinnitus, scars, and toxic exposure conditions now covered by the PACT Act are missed all the time. Anything that began during service, or grew out of something that did, may be eligible.

4. Consider TDIU if work is no longer possible

When service-connected conditions prevent steady employment, Individual Unemployability (TDIU) pays at the 100% rate even though your combined number is lower.

• Up-to-date medical records that document your symptoms, how often they hit, and how severe they are.
• Specifics about flare-ups. The rating should reflect your worst stretches, not only how you felt on exam day.
• Range-of-motion findings for spine and joint conditions, noting the point where pain starts.
• Your own statement and statements from others describing how the condition affects your job, your sleep and your home life.
• Effects on work. Sick days, accommodations, reduced hours, or a job you had to leave.

Look up the rating criteria for your condition before the C&P exam so you know what the examiner will check, then give a full and honest account of your symptoms.

Higher ratings and Illinois property taxes

An increase can matter at home, too. Illinois’ homestead exemption for veterans with disabilities steps up at 30%, 50% and 70%, and at 70% or more the first $250,000 of equalized assessed value is exempt. It must be refiled every year with your county assessment office.

A new exam can show improvement just as easily as decline, so think it through before filing. Long-standing ratings carry protection: one held for 20 years or more generally can’t be cut below that level, and one in place for 5 years or more can be reduced only with evidence of sustained improvement.

If the VA does propose a reduction, you usually get 60 days to respond with evidence, and asking for a hearing within 30 days keeps your current payment in place until the hearing happens.

Weighing that risk is the point of a free case review before you file.