When a Board of Veterans' Appeals decision grants new conditions, such as knees or TDIU, the regional office still has to implement that decision. Implementation almost always requires a compensation and pension (C&P) exam, often scheduled through a contractor like QTC, so the VA can assign a disability percentage to the newly granted conditions under 38 CFR 4.71a and set the correct effective date under 38 CFR 3.400. This exam is about rating the new grant, not about re-examining or re-justifying conditions you are already service-connected for.
Being scheduled for this exam does not, by itself, put your existing 100% rating at risk. VA cannot reduce a rating without following the due-process protections in 38 CFR 3.105(e), which require a proposed reduction, a written explanation, and at least 60 days for you to respond and submit evidence before any reduction takes effect. If you are already at a combined 100% schedular rating, adding newly rated conditions through the combined ratings table (38 CFR 4.25) mathematically cannot push you below 100%, since 100% is the ceiling. The new grants would typically affect back pay, special monthly compensation eligibility, or dependency benefits rather than your headline combined percentage.
Official 2026 VA monthly compensation, including the 2.8% COLA increase.
Dependent add-ons start at a 30% rating. Child-only and dependent-parent rates: see the full 2026 pay chart.
| Rating | Monthly (2026, incl. 2.8% COLA) |
|---|---|
| 10% | $180.42 |
| 20% | $356.66 |
| 30% | $552.47 |
| 40% | $795.84 |
| 50% | $1,132.90 |
| 60% | $1,435.02 |
| 70% | $1,808.45 |
| 80% | $2,102.15 |
| 90% | $2,362.30 |
| 100% | $3,938.58 |
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Analyze my claim free →Ratings that have been continuously in effect for 20 years become protected from reduction except in cases of fraud (38 CFR 3.951), and ratings in effect for 10 years are protected from severance for the same reason, though that protection is about severance of service connection, not about combining newly granted conditions. A TDIU grant running concurrently with a schedular 100% rating generally does not lower anything either; VA pays based on whichever calculation is more favorable.
What matters most in a case like this is making sure the effective dates on the new knee and TDIU grants are implemented correctly, since Board decisions that reference "the entire period on appeal" usually mean the grant should be effective back to the original appeal date rather than the exam date. Skipping the exam, however, can result in a proposed reduction or denial of the newly granted benefits for lack of evidence, so it should not be ignored.
The concrete next step is to attend the scheduled exam and, separately, contact a VSO or accredited representative to confirm in writing that the implementing rating decision reflects the correct effective dates from the Board's grant.
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