If you are a veteran with a service-connected heart disability, also known as a cardiac disability, you probably have questions about the proper VA heart disability rating given your particular situation.
There are quite a few heart disabilities recognized by VA. Many of these use similar ratings criteria, and quite a few of them use the method we will be covering in this article. But remember, there are a number of different ways VA can determine your proper disability rating for your service-connected heart condition. One in particular that we want to cover here is diagnostic testing, which is important because of its use at multiple ratings levels and multiple diagnoses and because it can be a little difficult to understand for someone without specialized medical knowledge. I’ll attempt to shed some light on that for you here.
An Objective Test to Establish Your VA Heart Disability Rating
Cardiologist use a diagnostic test called an echocardiogram to assess your heart. VA also uses this test to rate a heart disability.
Although your cardiologist can use an echocardiogram for other purposes, one important measurement from an echocardiogram is left ventricular dysfunction. Your cardiologist may have used the term left ventricular dysfunction with you or in your medical records. If not, related terms include:
Ejection fraction
Left ventricular ejection fraction, and
LVEF.
All three of these are the same thing.
What is left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF)?
Your left ventricular ejection fraction is a general guideline for your heart function and heart health. Left ventricular ejection fraction is essentially the measurement of the percentage of your blood that leaves you heart each time it pumps. As you know, your heart is a muscle that squeezes, or contracts, to pump blood out. When the heart relaxes, it fills with blood before contracting again to pump out the blood.
The left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) is the percentage of blood pumped out of the heart each time it pumps. So, if your LVEF is listed as 65 or 65%, that means your heart pumps out 65% of the blood with each heartbeat.
So what is a normal reading for ejection fraction? Most healthy people are going to be in the 55% to 70% range for the percent of blood that’s pushed out each time that heart muscle contracts. The lower the number the more heart damage there is, meaning the heart muscle is weaker and cannot push out as much of the blood from your heart.
How Left Ventricular Dysfunction Impacts Your VA Heart Disability Rating
If you have a service-connected heart disability and your LVEF is 50% or less, you should be able to be rated under this method.
VA uses the veteran’s measured ejection in two different ratings levels for heart disabilities. Again, the lower the ejection fraction, the higher VA heart disability rating that you would receive. If your ejection fraction is under 30% then you should qualify for a 100% cardiac disability rating from VA. If your ejection fraction is between 30% and 50% then you will qualify for a 60% VA heart disability rating.
Left ventricular dysfunction is only used at the 100% and 60% ratings levels. The next lower rating for most VA cardiac disabilities is a 30% VA disability rating. However, at that point VA does not use the measurement of the veteran’s left ventricular dysfunction as a ratings criteria. Instead, VA looks at some other factors that I cover in another article on symptoms with exertion and a future article on changes in the heart muscle. Look for that one soon.
Don’t Stress Out Over Your VA Heart Disability Rating
VA heart disability ratings can be highly technical. They require familiarity with five different methods of rating the disability depending on its severity. Each of those five methods requires some degree of medical knowledge. Some veterans are able to learn that and apply it to their own claim.
Other veterans prefer to have an attorney help with that process. If you have any questions about your claim for disability compensation, whether related to a cardiac disability or not, feel free to reach out to us for a free consultation on your claim.
Travis Studdard is an attorney who focuses on representing veterans in VA disability compensation claims. He regularly writes about issues that are important to veterans and their families.
You can subscribe to his Veterans Disability channel on YouTube.
I had an excellent experience working with Jason Perkins at Perkins & Studdard on my workers’ compensation case. Jason was professional, patient, and truly cared about helping me. He made sure I understood every step of the process and worked hard to get me a great settlement. I’m very thankful for everything he did for me. If you need a workers’ comp lawyer, I highly recommend Jason Perkins and the team at Perkins & Studdard — they really go above and beyond for their clients!Cosmic Energy
Amazing work by an amazing firm. Mr. Studdard has personally explained to me what is going on with my claim and how he will move forward on getting things done. He has always been available to speak. Jessica Hyatt is also a pleasure to work by keeping me up to date on the claim and also letting me know what is needed from me. This firm is professional, effective and definitely client friendly.Richard Moreno
I highly recommend this law firm it’s truly been a blessing to me and my family . The attorneys treated me very well very respectful they listen to me. They understood how important this was to our family. They answer all our questions they return calls to us. They explained everything in detail to us.I know that it was because of the law firm that we received a quick decision from the VA which our claim was granted.Tanya Henderson,Hawkins,Wilson
I highly recommend Jason and his staff. His professionalism and experience proved to be very valuable in helping my case. He is very knowledgeable in his field of work.Eric Bowles
Travis has an amazing team, when I hit a brick wall with my case, he immidiatly gets on board to get to the finish line. 80% to TDIU in about 3 months.
Additionally, working with Jessica has been an absolute pleasure, she is a strong part of their entire team.
I would recommend them to everyone I know!!Jesse
I had a wonderful experience with them.
And they selected my case .
I would definitely recommend them.Martha Brooks
What can I say about Travis and Jessica besides thank you from the bottom of my heart. You two worked hard for me. I had no clue when it came to the VA and was about ready to just give up, but with your help and support we made it to the finish line. Yes, it took a couple of years, but it was worth it in the end. If anyone is looking for help with working with the VA these are the people that can do it for you. The VA tried to pull a fast one on me, but Travis was faster and called them on it and they backed down. Thank you both again for everything you did for me and thank you for what you do for all veterans everywhere.Tony Butts
Marlis Espinosa
If you are looking for someone to help you through the VA benefits appeal process, stop the search and give Perkins Studdard LLC a call. They are EXCELLENT! I had been denied VA benefits and needed to file an appeal, but the process is so complicated I didn’t feel confident trying to do it myself. I found Perkins Studdard LLC while searching online, gave them a call and have not been disappointed. It has been great working with Travis, Jessica, and the rest of the team. They are always proactive in all the steps, quickly answer all my questions, and provide updates along the way. They are always highly professional, yet down to earth and easy to talk to. I cannot say enough good things about them. There is no way I would have received the benefit I was awarded without their help.William Slaughter
Jason, can’t thank you enough for continued support during my workers comp case and follow-up even after winning my case. So thankful to your wonderful staff including Alison and Lisa for amazing communication and keeping me up to speed on the case. Jason Perkins at Perkins Studard LLC is absolutely the kind of lawyers needed when fighting for your medical support through Workerscomp.Rich Kid Uzi
I understand you want your VA claim to be done as quickly as possible. But remember the ultimate goal – to win your VA disability compensation claim.
You may eventually get there on your own, but it may be after a series of decisions by the Regional Office and Board of Veterans Appeals. Sometimes claims are appealed and remanded several times, which can cause a claim to drag on for years. If you are interested in avoiding unnecessary delay in your claim and want to do everything you can to maximize your chances of success, it is probably a good idea for you to consult with an accredited veterans disability attorney.
We would be happy to talk to you. If you would like a free consultation with our Perkins Studdard veterans disability attorneys just click here or give us a call to begin the process.
