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Understand your VA disability rating decision letter.

Upload your rating decision. We explain what every section means in clear language, decode each diagnostic code against the federal rating schedule, and show you how your combined rating was calculated, step by step.

60 + 40 + 20 = 80not 120. The math that trips everyone up, shown step by step.

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A VA disability rating is worth between $180.42 and $3,938.58 a monthVA.gov · eff. Dec 1 2025

See it in action

Your letter on the left. What it actually means on the right.

Every section is translated, every diagnostic code decoded, every number linked to the federal rule behind it.

understandmyrating.com/decode

Your letter

What this section means

Tinnitus, granted at 10%

VA connected your tinnitus to service and rated it 10 percent, the full amount its code allows. Marked static.§4.87 · DC 6260

Lumbosacral strain, 40%

Rated 40 percent with a routine future examination scheduled.§4.71a · DC 5237

Tap any dotted term for a plain definition. Every explanation links to its federal source.

See the math, honestly

Watch your combined rating build one step at a time, bilateral factor and all.

RUNNING TOTAL · 76%

Where you landed

The full ladder of criteria for each code, straight from 38 CFR Part 4.

30%

40%YOU

50%

Walk in prepared

A printable packet of questions for your accredited representative.

QUESTION 2 OF 6
"Two of my conditions affect paired limbs. Was the bilateral factor applied?"

How it works

Upload your letter

A PDF or a photo of the paper. We black out your SSN on your device first. No account needed.

We read and match it

Every condition, diagnostic code, effective date, and status, matched against the published federal rating schedule.

You understand it

A plain explanation with a source link on every number, and the exact questions to bring to an accredited representative.

What we check

Everything the letter says, matched against public federal rules.

Every explanation links to the exact section of 38 CFR or VA.gov behind it.

§4.25

Your combined rating

We reproduce the combined-rating arithmetic step by step and tell you honestly whether it checks out.

Part 4

Every diagnostic code

The plain condition name, body system, and the full ladder of percentage criteria for each code.

§3.400

Your effective dates

What each effective date means and where it comes from, per condition.

M21-1

Static, deferred, future exam

Each status flag on your letter, explained in clear language.

The $49 packet

Walk into your meeting with a folder, not a shoebox.

Your decision becomes a printable packet built for one thing: a productive conversation with a VA-accredited representative. It turns your specific letter into an organized agenda, so you are not paying for time you spend explaining the basics.

A one-page summary of your conditions, codes, percentages, and effective dates

Specific questions drawn from your letter, phrased as questions, never as advice

Blank space for the representative's answers, and a glossary of your terms

See a sample packetPart of Report + Math + Packet, $49 once

Questions worth asking

1. My right knee is listed as deferred. What does that mean for my timeline?

2. Was the bilateral factor applied to my paired conditions?

UnderstandMyRating

Questions to ask your representative

A prepared agenda for your meeting

Combined80%

PTSD · DC 941160%

Lumbar strain · DC 523740%

Tinnitus · DC 626010%

Pricing

One-time. No subscription. No auto-renew.

NO ACCOUNT NEEDED

Basic decode

Free

Section-by-section explanation

Jargon glossary

Diagnostic-code lookups

Start free decode

ONE-TIME

Full annotated report

$19

Everything in Basic

Full annotated report + PDF

Complete DC criteria ladders

Compensation table with dependents

Options landscape

Choose Full annotated report

ONE-TIME

Report + math + packet

$49

Everything in Full report

Combined-rating math + bilateral factor

Questions for your representative packet

Choose Report + math + packet

For help with a claim or appeal, use a VA-accredited representative

They are the people authorized to help. Many VSOs help for free. Everything we produce is built to bring to that conversation, never to replace it.

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