10 Proven Ways to Increase Your VA Disability Rating

1. File a Claim for Increase

If a condition has worsened since your last rating decision, you can file a claim for increase using the same VA Form 21-526EZ. This isn't a new claim from scratch — it's a request to re-evaluate an already service-connected condition against current symptoms. Bring recent treatment records showing the progression, since the VA is comparing today's severity against the criteria for the next rating level up.

2. Claim Secondary Conditions

Many service-connected conditions cause or worsen other conditions over time — back pain leading to radiculopathy, PTSD leading to sleep apnea or GERD, knee problems leading to hip or back issues from altered gait. Each secondary condition that gets approved adds its own rating, and because of how VA math combines ratings, secondary conditions are often the fastest legitimate way to move a combined rating meaningfully higher.

3. Submit Stronger Medical Evidence

Ratings are decided on the record in front of the rater, not on how you actually feel day to day. If your file is thin — infrequent treatment, no documented flare-ups, no functional impact noted — the rating will reflect that thin record even if your symptoms are genuinely severe. Consistent treatment, detailed symptom logs, and lay statements from people who see the impact firsthand all strengthen the evidentiary picture.

4. Get a Strong Nexus Letter for New Claims

For any new condition — primary or secondary — a well-written nexus letter from a qualified provider addressing causation directly, using language like 'at least as likely as not,' carries significant weight. A vague or hedged opinion rarely moves a claim; a specific one that ties your service record to your current diagnosis does.

5. Understand VA Math on Combined Ratings

The VA doesn't add ratings together — 30% plus 30% isn't 60%. Each additional rating applies to your remaining, non-disabled percentage, so ratings combine in a way that's always less than simple addition but still meaningfully increases your overall percentage and pay tier. Running your exact combination through a calculator before you file additional claims helps set realistic expectations for where a new approval would actually land you.

6. Reopen Old Denials With a Supplemental Claim

If a condition was denied years ago for lack of evidence you didn't have at the time, a Supplemental Claim (VA Form 20-0995) lets you reopen it with new and relevant evidence — a nexus letter you didn't have before, updated treatment records, or a buddy statement. This is different from an appeal; it's a fresh look triggered by genuinely new material.

7. Apply for TDIU If You Can't Work

Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU) pays at the 100% rate even if your combined schedular rating is lower, provided your service-connected conditions prevent you from maintaining substantially gainful employment. It generally requires at least one condition rated 60% or higher, or a combination reaching 70% with one condition at 40% or more.

TDIU is worth genuinely considering rather than dismissing outright — plenty of veterans assume they need a 100% schedular rating to receive full compensation, and don't realize a lower combined rating can still qualify if the functional impact on employability is real and documented.

8. Understand Scheduled Re-Evaluations

Some rating decisions come with a note that a future re-examination is scheduled — typically for conditions expected to improve over time. These re-evaluations cut both ways: they can lower a rating if a condition genuinely improved, but they're also a built-in opportunity to have a worsened condition reassessed without filing anything new yourself. Watch for scheduled exam notices and treat them like any other C&P exam — prepared and honest about current severity.

Step-by-step

1. Pull your last rating decision. Identify exactly which criteria kept you at your current level and what the next level up requires.
2. Get current treatment for the condition. A gap in care makes it harder to show worsening — even one visit every few months keeps the record active.
3. Screen for secondary conditions. Ask your provider directly whether any newer symptoms could be connected to an already-rated condition.
4. Gather lay statements. A spouse or coworker describing specific, observed impact adds weight a medical record alone can't capture.
5. File the right form for the right situation. Claim for increase for worsening, Supplemental Claim for new evidence on an old denial, TDIU application if unemployability applies.

Frequently asked questions