Does The Va Ever Get Their Own "va Math" Wrong? Rated At 70 But Should Be 60...

[OEF Vet]

Hey everybody. Long time lurker first time poster.

Today I received a letter of entitlement letting me know that the VA has increased my rating for TMJ from 0% to 10%. Obviously I'm happy about this, but I'm worried that I just received way too much backpay (the original claim dated back to March 2011). The letter also states that my combined rating is now 70%, up from 60%.

The problem is that when I use the various VA calculators on the 'net, I find that my combined rating should still be 60%. Here are my individual disability ratings:

40% - TBI

10% - back

10% - left knee

10% - right knee

10% - right wrist

10% - TMJ (latest)

Using

this calculator I get 64.57%. I was under the impression that the VA didn't round up until exactly 65% is hit; 64.99% and below should round down to a 60% combined rating. Right?

Does the VA ever make mistakes like this, or is this not a mistake at all? Any help would be appreciated.

[82ndVet]

Does anyone on here know how to let the VA know that they made a mistake? I am rated at 60 (payment wise) but the math adds to 70 on every calculator I've tried. (40%, 30%, 10%, 10% 10%, 10%)

I just don't know who to tell... any help?

[sharon]

There shuld be a bilateral factor for your knees which would put you above 65%. The math is not done by a person rather by a computer.

[broncovet]

Ok. I am still laughing. Does the VA ever make mistakes? Oh, no, heaven forbid!

Of course the VA makes mistakes. It can also be your mistake, such as a bilateral factor, already mentioned. Also, you can have multiple 0% ratings that sometimes combine to a 10% rating, in certain circumstances.

You should get to the bottom of this, because if the VA is overpaying you they will figure it out and want the overpayment back. (They wont figure it out, tho, if you are underpaid).

[tanker2]

this subject poses an interesting question....if the v.a.'s fuzzy math was incorrect and they over paid how would they correctly be repaid the overage...demand the sum in full?..

short pay future payments???

[jvretiredvet]

It's sad that the other posters did not take the initiative to provide you with a real answer instead of the obligatory anti-VA screed.

Your VA letter is correct.

IMNSHO, the various VA calculators on the 'net do not do a very good job with the bilateral factor (well, not without some machinations on the part of the user). Also, we musn't ignore the issue of operator error.

I should note that these calculators are not official gummint calculators, but some pretty good approximations by some good folks.

Before we plug numbers into these calculators, we need to be familiar with 38 CFR 4.25 http://www.benefits..../S4_25.DOC and 38 CFR 4.26 http://www.benefits....PART4/S4_26.DOC .

Here are the manual calculations, straight from 4.25 and 4.26:

Combine 10% R knee with 10% L knee => 19%

Combine 19% with 10% R wrist => 27%

Add bilateral factor of 10% => 2.7% rounded to 3% => 30%

For further computation purposes, your disabilities are:

40% TBI

30% from bilateral disabilities

10% back

10% TMJ

Combine 40% TBI with 30% bilateral stuff => 58%

Combine 58% with 10% back => 62%

Combine 62% with 10% TMJ => 66%

Round up the raw score to 70%

You're welcome.

Hey everybody. Long time lurker first time poster.

Today I received a letter of entitlement letting me know that the VA has increased my rating for TMJ from 0% to 10%. Obviously I'm happy about this, but I'm worried that I just received way too much backpay (the original claim dated back to March 2011). The letter also states that my combined rating is now 70%, up from 60%.

The problem is that when I use the various VA calculators on the 'net, I find that my combined rating should still be 60%. Here are my individual disability ratings:

40% - TBI

10% - back

10% - left knee

10% - right knee

10% - right wrist

10% - TMJ (latest)

Using this calculator I get 64.57%. I was under the impression that the VA didn't round up until exactly 65% is hit; 64.99% and below should round down to a 60% combined rating. Right?

Does the VA ever make mistakes like this, or is this not a mistake at all? Any help would be appreciated.

[USMC5811]

Thanks jvretiredvet for explaining how it is computed (especially the bilateral factor)....I was trying to figure it out myself.