The Bilateral Factor | VA Disability Group | Attorney Casey Walker 

Yes, upper and lower extremity nerve impairments include the bilateral factor. Status-post extremity nerve surgery with any compensable residuals should implicate the bilateral factor. Keep in mind you will need a right arm extremity joint or nerve impairment service connected to a compensable level in order to avail yourself to the bilateral factor. This is alluded to in the video. Good luck!

Yes, it would appear the 93% should push to at least 95% under your circumstance. As stated in the video, you need a service connected condition on both the L and R side of the lower extremities to avail yourself of the bilateral factor. The same is true of the upper extremities. You can play with our website's calculator to double check. When doing your data input, just ensure you select the extremities for joints/nerves, and "other" for non-extremity issues such as mental health, skin, stomach, GERD, eye, dental, hearing, etc. issues. vadisabilitygroup.com/va-disability-benefit-calculator/ All the best!

@VADisabilityGroup so it shows the bilateral factor at 3.4 percent and the combined disability percentage at 93. So I would add the 3.4 % to the 93% ? For a total of 96.4%?

@@danreardon505 I suspect you are talking about the website calculator tool. If so, the website calculator includes the bilateral factor in the overall evaluation, so you would not add it to the combined disability evaluation demonstrated on the website. We have done the math for you in the tool. For example, on the website 10% L leg plus 10% right leg has a combined evaluation of 21% and already includes the bilateral factor in the overall evaluation (10+10=19% and then you add 1.9% bilateral factor to that for a combined 20.9%, which rounds up to 21%.)

@VADisabilityGroup yes the tool thank you. The combined rating says still at 93 which is incorrect so trying to figure that out. Here are my ratings, if ypu would be so kind to let me know what you come up with? 60 other 50 other 40 other 10 other 10 left leg 10 right leg 10 left arm 10 right arm

@@danreardon505 We can't offer much more than what is stated here. The tool is correct and used for hundreds of Veterans every month, so I can't speak to what you are seeing with it. The bilateral factor is added on the back-end of the computation. What are the exact percentages/conditions for every assigned evaluation? That's the only way we can offer more insight.

The bilateral factor is automatically inferred for any joint or nerve conditions affecting extremities. You don't file for the "bilateral factor" expressly. Rather, you file for right knee strain, right sciatic nerve impairment, left leg radiculopathy 2nd to back, etc. In your case, if you have 20% for the R knee and 10% for the L knee you should have a 28% combined rating with an additional 2.8% bilateral factor, which would total 31% for those 2 conditions. The bilateral factor does not apply to the back or neck, skin conditions, allergies, headaches, mental health, dental, systemic organs, gastrointestinal, etc. It's only joints/nerves, which is really most leg and arm conditions.

​@caseywalker711 Some quick help on math. If I am at 93% and I had a bilateral increase for left leg radiculopathy (10%) and right ankle (10%) that should equal an additional point correct. So I'm at 93 and received two bilateral factor increase one for legs and one for shoulders, so the 93 should round up to 95 correct?

@@danreardon505 Yes, it would appear the 93% should push to at least 95% under your circumstance. As stated in the video, you need a service connected condition on both the L and R side of the lower extremities to avail yourself of the bilateral factor. The same is true of the upper extremities. You can play with our website's calculator to double check. When doing your data input, just ensure you select the extremities for joints/nerves, and "other" for non-extremity issues such as mental health, skin, stomach, GERD, eye, dental, hearing, etc. issues. vadisabilitygroup.com/va-disability-benefit-calculator/ All the best!

@@Shazam450 thank you for clarifying that I checked my award it is on there.

That is great!@@Smallvet

Do VA math and bilateral factor calculation with extremities first. After this, add the remaining non-extremity conditions (stomach, sinus, hearing, dental, urinary, etc.) using VA math. Your total is your combined VA evaluation. Here's an example: 10 left leg 10 right leg 10 tinnitus Add the 10 Left leg and 10 right leg and you get 19% using VA math. Then you take 10% of that 19% to get the bilateral factor, which is 1.9%. Add the 1.9% to the 19% and you get 20.9%. NOW, AFTER TALLYING THE EXTREMITY TOTALS AND ADDING THE BILATERAL FACTOR TO THAT TOTAL, add the remaining non-extremity calculation of 10% using VA math, which gives you 7.9% (79.1 * .1 = 7.9%). Add the 7.9% to the 21.9% calculated for the bilateral factor and you get 28.81%, which rounds up to 29%. Take the following additional example: 60 other 50 other 40 other 10 other 10 left leg 10 right leg 10 left arm 10 right arm These percentages add up to 93.967% according to our calculation. You add the bilateral factor onto the joints and add it to that calculation only, which in this case totals to 37% with a bilateral factor of 3.4% included. At that time you add the rest of the "other" conditions. You don't add it to the 93%; rather, you add it to the 34% which gives you 37.4%. Then you add all non-extremity "other" issues to that using VA math. Bottom line. Do VA math and bilateral factor calculation with extremities first. After this, add the remaining non-extremity conditions (stomach, sinus, hearing, dental, urinary, etc.) using VA math. Your total is your combined VA evaluation. Clear as mud right! Only the VA could come up with something like this. Have a nice wekend!

Thank you, have a nice weekend too.@@VADisabilityGroup

Yeah, with the bilateral factor I'm at 90%, without it I'm 100%. LOL@@VADisabilityGroup

The bilateral factor should only help you. You can play with our website's calculator to double check. When doing your data input, just ensure you select the extremities for joints/nerves, and "other" for non-extremity issues such as mental health, skin, stomach, GERD, eye, dental, hearing, etc. issues. vadisabilitygroup.com/va-disability-benefit-calculator/ All the best!

With the bilateral factor I'm at 94%, without the bilateral factor I would have been at 95%.@@VADisabilityGroup