app.veteranhq/va-disability-benefits

Tools

• analyze_rating_gap

  Use this when a veteran gives a condition name and the percentage currently assigned for it, and wants that percentage compared against the VASRD criteria. Returns the tier that matches the current percentage, the next tier above it, and every higher tier on file for that condition, with the criteria each one requires. It reports when the condition is already at the highest documented tier, and when no criteria are on file for that condition name. It describes what the criteria require; only VA decides a rating.

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• calculate_combined_rating

  Use this when a veteran has two or more VA disability rating percentages and wants the combined rating. Applies the 38 CFR 4.25 Combined Ratings Table procedure: pairwise combination in severity order, whole-percent rounding after each step, then conversion to the nearest 10. Returns the combined percentage before and after that conversion, plus the arithmetic for each step. The result differs from adding the percentages and from a simple product. It reports what 38 CFR 4.25 yields for the percentages supplied, not what VA has assigned, and it does not evaluate special monthly compensation.

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• calculate_rolling_window

  Use this when a veteran supplies dates of incapacitating episodes and the question involves the 38 CFR 4.71a formula for rating intervertebral disc syndrome on incapacitating episodes, diagnostic code 5243. Totals the calendar duration of those episodes inside the 12-month window ending on a reference date. That formula bands on total calendar duration in weeks, so weekend and holiday days inside an episode count, and only periods flagged as bed rest prescribed by a physician count toward a tier. Returns the window, a per-period breakdown, the tier the flagged episodes would support, and a separate employer-leave workday count that plays no part in that tier. The tier it reports is an estimate from the episodes supplied. It does not decide FMLA entitlement and does not apply to conditions rated outside diagnostic code 5243.

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• check_presumptive_eligibility

  Use this when a veteran asks whether a condition is presumptively service connected, or which conditions are presumptive for a given exposure or service era. Returns matching presumptive conditions with the service era, exposure type, required service, legal authority and evidence needed for each. At least one of condition, serviceEra or exposureType is required. Filters combine with AND: condition plus exposureType or serviceEra narrows to their intersection, and each filter needs at least one word of three or more characters or the query is refused. An empty result means no entry satisfies that exact combination, not that the condition is non-presumptive. Whether a particular veteran meets the service requirement depends on service records this tool does not read.

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• compare_rating_criteria

  Use this when a veteran names a VA diagnostic code and wants the rating criteria for it. Returns the VASRD criteria on file for that code at every tier, highest percentage first, with the condition name, body system and 38 CFR reference, so the findings each tier requires can be read side by side. It takes a diagnostic code rather than a condition name, and returns an empty result for a code that is not in the criteria table. It is not a lookup of what a rating pays and it does not combine ratings.

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• compute_retroactive_pay

  Use this when a veteran gives an effective date and a rating increase and asks what the retroactive amount would be. Returns an estimate of the difference in monthly compensation for each month of the period, with a per-month breakdown, the assumptions behind it, and its own disclaimer. Under 38 CFR 3.31 payment starts on the first day of the month FOLLOWING the month the award became effective, with no exception when the effective date is itself the first of a month, and the period runs through the month of adjudication. Monthly rates for payment years 2000 onward are read from VA published rate tables; earlier years are reconstructed from the current published table back-adjusted by the SSA cost-of-living chain, and the result states which of the two the requested period used. The total is an estimate either way, because dependent status is taken as constant across the period. It handles an increase only: the new rating has to be higher than the previous one, and effective dates before 1990 are refused. It does not set an effective date and it does not report an amount VA has authorized.

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• find_secondary_conditions

  Use this when a veteran names a service-connected condition and asks what other conditions can follow from it. Returns conditions on file as medically linked to that primary condition, each with the strength of the supporting evidence, the medical rationale, key studies, filing notes and the diagnostic codes involved. An empty result means nothing is on file for that search term, not that no link exists. It does not diagnose, it does not establish that a particular veteran's condition is secondary, and it does not supply the medical nexus opinion a secondary claim needs.

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• lookup_compensation_rate

  Use this when a veteran wants the monthly VA disability compensation amount for a given rating percentage and dependent situation. Returns the monthly and annual amounts from the VA compensation rate table in effect, with the rate year and effective date. The rating is read to the nearest 10 percent, and dependents change the amount only at 30 percent and above. Children are counted as children under 18; school-age children 18 to 23, dependent parents and aid and attendance are outside what it models. It gives the published rate for that combination, not what a specific veteran is paid, and it is not a back-pay calculation for a past period.

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• prepare_cp_exam

  Use this when a veteran has a VA compensation and pension examination scheduled for a condition and wants to know what it involves. Returns the examination type and typical length, what the examiner does, the questions examiners commonly ask, the Disability Benefits Questionnaire sections that apply, records worth bringing, common misunderstandings about the exam, and prompts for reporting symptom frequency and functional impact accurately. For a condition with a guide on file it also returns the rating tiers for that condition's diagnostic code, which is what the examiner's findings are scored against; any other condition returns a general exam guide. Educational reference about the examination process. It does not schedule, reschedule or contact VA, and the examiner's findings and VA decide the rating.

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• search_legal_authority

  Use this when a question calls for the text of a VA rating regulation or for case law, searched by keyword or diagnostic code. Returns 38 CFR rating criteria for matching conditions, excerpts from Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims decisions with docket number, case name and relevance score, and the statutory standards for benefit of the doubt, duty to assist, and reasons and bases. CAVC decisions are binding precedent for the Board of Veterans' Appeals. The limit parameter caps results per source, default 5 and maximum 10. Docket numbers and case names come only from the returned results, and when the case-law corpus is empty the response says so and returns regulatory results alone. It does not read an individual claim and it is not legal advice.

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