When both instability and thigh atrophy are present, how is the rating determined?

• A. The rating for instability
• B. All of the rating for the greatest disability And approximately one half of the lesser disability
• C. The rating for thigh atrophy
• D. The disability producing the greater rating only

Answer: (B)

When evaluating more than one impairment, the overall disability rating isn’t simply added together. Instead, you start with the highest rating and then add about half of any secondary (lesser) rating. This method reflects that multiple issues together usually produce more disability than any single issue alone, but not in a strict sum.

So, when both instability and thigh atrophy are present, you determine the combined rating by taking the greater rating and adding roughly half of the lesser rating. For example, if instability is rated higher at 40% and thigh atrophy is 20%, the combined rating would be about 40% + 10% = 50%.

The other approaches—rating only the instability, rating only the thigh atrophy, or taking only the greater rating—don’t capture the added impact of having multiple conditions, which is why the combined method is the correct one.