VA Compensation Calculator — Update 1.26.12

Version 1.26.12 of the VA Compensation Calculator is now available on the App Store. It rates arm and hand conditions the way 38 CFR does — differently for your dominant and non-dominant arm — shows the regulation’s own notes in the diagnostic-code reference, and corrects the rating criteria for about 200 codes.

Dominant and non-dominant arm

For 74 arm and hand codes, the rating schedule has two columns: one for your dominant arm and a lower one for the other arm. They cover shoulder, elbow, wrist, hand and finger conditions; arm, hand and finger amputations; paralysis of the arm’s nerves (DC 8510–8519); and muscle injuries of the shoulder, arm and forearm (muscle groups I–VIII, DC 5301–5308).

Through 1.26.11 the app showed only the dominant column. On a non-dominant arm that meant seeing ratings you can’t get, and the Increase Finder could point at the wrong next step. Take limitation of motion of the arm (DC 5201): motion limited to midway between the side and shoulder level is 30% for the dominant arm but 20% for the other, so a non-dominant arm rated 20% doesn’t move up until motion is limited to 25° from the side (30%).

Now:

• A code’s page in the 38 CFR reference has a Dominant / Non-dominant switch above the criteria.
• When you add one of these conditions or give it a code, the app asks Which arm?, and the rating choices follow your answer. You can change it later from the code tag on the disability’s row.
• The Increase Finder uses that arm’s ratings and says which arm it used. If a condition has no arm set yet, it asks right there.

VA decides which arm is dominant from your records or a VA exam, and your decision letter or C&P exam usually says. If you’re ambidextrous, the injured arm counts as dominant (38 CFR 4.69).

The regulation’s own notes, and the codes they point to

A veteran wrote in that their diverticulitis is rated under DC 7329, but the app only listed DC 7327. They were right. The regulation’s note to 7327 says that after a colectomy or colostomy, it’s rated under 7327 or 7329 (resection of the large intestine), whichever gives the higher rating — and the app had been dropping every note like that.

Now 416 codes carry the regulation’s own notes, and a code’s page links every code its notes point to under Related codes. Searching “diverticulitis”, “colectomy” or “colostomy” finds 7329, and you can type a code the way your decision letter prints it, like “DC 7329” or “5299-5237”.

About 200 rating criteria corrected

The criteria in the 38 CFR reference come from the official schedule, and the tool that reads it had two bugs. Rating levels marked with a footnote were skipped (breast surgery, DC 7626, showed only its 0% level), and a shared rating formula leaked into codes it doesn’t cover (the eye-episode ladder showed up on ectropion, DC 6020). Fixing them changed 194 codes: 91 gained criteria they never had, and 44 lost levels that were never theirs.

One hand-written entry was out of date, too. Erectile dysfunction (DC 7522) is rated 0% under the current schedule, not 20%. The money is SMC-K for loss of use of a creative organ, which is paid even at 0%. The Increase Finder had been suggesting a 0% → 20% step that doesn’t exist.

Contact Me: a check before you send without an email

Leaving the email blank is fine, and your message still arrives. But without an email I can’t reply, or let you know what came of your message — a fix, an answer or a decision. Tapping Send with the email blank now says so, and lets you add your email or send anyway. The contact page on this site does the same.

Tip Jar

The Tip Jar says why again: tips keep this app free and ad-free for the next veteran who needs it. On the US App Store, it also offers a way to tip on the web. Tips are optional, as always, and unlock nothing.

Also

Various bug fixes and improvements.

As always: your VA information stays on your device and under your control. If something’s off or you have an idea, tap ? → Contact Me and tell me.