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Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the joints, causing pain, swelling, and over time joint damage. It is rated differently from ordinary (wear-and-tear) arthritis.
VA rating schedule, diagnostic code 5002
Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease, which means a person's own immune system attacks the lining of the joints, causing pain, swelling, and stiffness over time. The VA recognizes it as a ratable condition under 38 CFR § 4.71a. To be service-connected, the evidence generally needs to show a current diagnosis, something in service linked to it, and a connection between the two.
The VA rates rheumatoid arthritis under Diagnostic Code 5002. As of a 2021 update, that code is titled "multi-joint arthritis … as an active process" and lists rheumatoid arthritis among the inflammatory forms of arthritis it covers. There are two ways to evaluate it, and the VA uses whichever gives the higher rating: one looks at how active and severe the disease is, including whole-body (constitutional) symptoms like weight loss and anemia and how often flare-ups happen during the year; the other rates the lasting joint damage by the limitation of motion or stiffness (ankylosis) in the affected joints. The VA does not combine the two approaches — it assigns the higher result.
It helps to know that this is treated differently from ordinary wear-and-tear arthritis. That common form, called degenerative arthritis or osteoarthritis, falls under a separate code (Diagnostic Code 5003) and is rated mainly on X-ray findings and limited motion, not on an active autoimmune disease process.
This is general educational information about how the VA's rules work — not legal advice, not a VA decision, and not a prediction about any individual claim. Outcomes depend on your own facts and evidence; a denial can be appealed.
Grounded in federal regulations and VA guidance, independently reviewed June 2026. Educational information, not legal advice or a VA determination.
Across 3,471 real Board appeals for Rheumatoid arthritis
A denial is often not the end either — remands (shown below) are sent back for more development and can still end in a grant. These are historical outcomes, not a prediction of your case.
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Among the appeals that were granted or partly granted, the most common ways Rheumatoid arthritis was linked to service:
In appeals where Rheumatoid arthritis was the only condition decided and the Board granted it, the rating most often assigned was:
These appeals involved a recognized exposure — which can mean the link to service is presumed, with no nexus to prove:
The Board has granted service connection for a low back condition, radiculopathy of the left lower extremity, and radiculopathy of the right lower extremity as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected lumbosacral strain.
The Board has granted service connection for left elbow medial epicondylitis with rheumatoid arthritis and right elbow lateral epicondylitis with rheumatoid arthritis, finding that the Veteran's symptoms are related to his military service.
The Board has granted service connection for rheumatoid arthritis as secondary to the service-connected major depressive disorder with anxious distress, finding that the current RA is caused or worsened by the psychiatric condition.
The Veteran's tinnitus is granted service connection. Service connection for diabetes, chronic renal insufficiency, fibromyalgia, heart condition, thyroid disorder, primary optic atrophy of the bilateral eyes, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura are denied as there is no evidence linking these conditions to her active duty service.
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including lumbosacral strain and acquired psychiatric disability, have rendered him unable to secure or follow substantially gainful employment. The Board has granted a TDIU based on the severity of his service-connected conditions.
The Veteran's other specified trauma or stress related disorder is rated at 50 percent, and his bilateral hand disabilities are granted service connection based on direct evidence.
Jump to the decisions from a specific year.
New decisions are added every week, and older years are actively being backfilled — a year that looks thin or missing here (especially 2011–2017) is a gap in our library, not in the Board’s decisions.
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