VA Rating for Depression and Anxiety Secondary to Tinnitus
Tinnitus is one of the most common conditions claimed by veterans. In 2023, nearly 3 million veterans were receiving VA disability benefits for tinnitus, including more than 200,000 new recipients.
Tinnitus itself can only be assigned a VA disability rating of 0% or 10%. That means that a tinnitus rating alone will not provide significant VA disability benefits. However, it is still worth pursuing benefits for tinnitus because even though the monthly monetary benefit is small, the VA will provide medical care for the condition.
What is Tinnitus?
Tinnitus is a persistent condition that causes a person to hear ringing, buzzing or other sounds in one or both ears. In most cases, the sound can only be detected by the person suffering from tinnitus. However, in the case of objective tinnitus the sound may be detectable during a medical exam.
It is unsurprising that tinnitus is common in U.S. military veterans, as common causes of the condition include noise exposure, hearing loss and head or neck injuries. However, tinnitus isn’t currently presumed service-connected, so it will be up to the veteran to provide evidence that noise exposure or another service-connected event or environment caused the condition.
A Secondary Condition Can Increase Your VA Disability Rating
It is also possible to secure more significant VA disability benefits if another condition accompanies tinnitus. Often, tinnitus has a significant impact on mental health. So, conditions like depression and anxiety can be secondary to service-connected tinnitus. In that situation, the combined VA disability rating for tinnitus and the accompanying mental health condition may be significantly higher than the rating for tinnitus alone. That can mean more substantial monthly monetary benefits and broader healthcare coverage.
Depression and Anxiety Secondary to Tinnitus
Studies have shown that people who suffer from tinnitus are more likely than the general population to also suffer from anxiety, depression and somatic stress. So, a veteran who has established a service connection for tinnitus and also suffers from one of those conditions may be able to establish a secondary service connection. Typically, this will require medical records relating to both conditions and a nexus letter from a qualified medical professional explaining the connection.
How a Rating for Anxiety or Depression as a Secondary Condition Can Impact Your Benefits
When you get a rating for anxiety, depression, or any other condition secondary to your service-connected tinnitus, your VA disability rating may be significantly increased. Both anxiety and depression are rated under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders. Your rating for the mental health condition will depend on the severity of your symptoms.
A mental health condition such as anxiety or depression may result in a rating of 0%, 10%, 30%, 50%,70% or 100%. Here’s how those ratings are assigned.
- A 0% disability rating is assigned when the veteran has been diagnosed with anxiety or depression, but symptoms are not serious enough to either interfere with social and occupational function or require ongoing medication.
- A 10% disability rating is assigned when there is transient impairment of occupational and social function, occurring only in times of significant stress, or when the condition is controlled through the use of continuous medication.
- A 30% disability rating is assigned when impairment of occupational and social function is intermittent.
- A 50% disability rating is assigned when there is impairment of occupational and social function with decreased reliability and productivity.
- A 70% disability rating is assigned when there is occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas.
- A 100% disability rating is assigned when there is total occupational and social impairment.
An experienced VA disability benefits advocate can tell you more about the types of symptoms and the frequency of symptoms that are typically associated with each of these ratings.
How Do Combined Disability Ratings Work?
When the VA combines disability ratings, they don’t simply add the assigned ratings together. That’s because a veteran can’t be more than completely (100%) disabled. Here’s an example of how a combined rating for tinnitus and depression might play out.
Example 1: Tinnitus and Depression
In this example, the veteran is assigned a VA disability rating of 10% for tinnitus, and a 50% disability rating for depression as a secondary condition.
The first thing the VA will do is to subtract the 10% rating for tinnitus. That leaves 90% of the veteran’s capacity to work with. Then, the VA will apply the disability rating for the secondary condition (in this case, 50%) to the remaining 90%. That works out to 45% (.90 x .50 = .45).
Then, the 10% and the 45% are added together. That gives the VA a combined percentage of 55%. However, VA disability ratings are only assigned in multiples of 10. So, in this situation, the 55% is rounded up to 60%. In this case, the combined rating works out to the sum of the two disability ratings. But, it doesn’t always work out that way.
Example 2: Tinnitus and Anxiety
Again, the veteran is assigned a 10% disability rating for tinnitus. But in this case, the veteran receives a 70% rating for anxiety.
Again, the VA deducts the 10% assigned for tinnitus and then applies the anxiety rating (70%) to the remaining 90%. (.90 x .70 = .63).
Again, the VA will add the two ratings together–in this case, totalling 73%. However, in this case, the result is rounded down because the ending digit is less than 5. So, in this case, the combined disability rating for tinnitus with a 10% rating and anxiety with a 70% rating is still 70%.
Making the Most of Your VA Disability Claim
Whether you are claiming VA disability benefits for tinnitus or some other condition, it is important to make sure you include any other service-connected or secondary conditions. It’s also critical that you include sufficient medical evidence and other documentation to support the right disability rating.
Consider the difference the secondary condition made in the examples above. In both cases, the veteran would have received $175.51/month in monetary benefits for tinnitus alone, along with medical care for the tinnitus only. But the veteran with the combined rating of 60% would receive $1,395.93/month, and the veteran with the 70% combined rating would receive $1,759.19/month. Both would receive comprehensive healthcare benefits.
Get the Help You Need with Your VA Disability Claim
At Disabled Vets, our advocates have extensive knowledge of and experience with the VA disability claims and appeals processes. To learn more about how we can help you submit the strongest claim or appeal possible, call us today at 888-373-4722 or contact us here now.
