VA Math

Forty, forty and twenty look like a hundred. The VA letter says seventy, and it never tells you why. The VA does not add ratings. It uses a method written in 38 CFR 4.25 that treats you as a whole person and takes each rating out of what is left. This short guide walks through that method one step at a time with Owen, a veteran who brought his decision letter to a service officer and learned to run his own numbers. You will learn to read the combined ratings table, apply the bilateral factor for paired arms or legs, round once at the end, find the boundary a new rating has to cross, and know when to ask about TDIU or SMC instead of chasing the schedule.