Hypertensive heart disease VA Rating

Hypertensive heart disease is rated under diagnostic code 7007. In the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities it appears as Hypertensive heart disease, within the Cardiovascular System section of 38 CFR Part 4.

The essentials

How VA rates hypertensive heart disease

Hypertensive heart disease has no percentage criteria of its own. It is rated under the General Rating Formula for Diseases of the Heart, the same scale VA applies to every condition in that group — so the percentage turns entirely on how your symptoms measure against these levels, not on the diagnosis itself.

Criteria quoted from 38 CFR Part 4, Subpart B (eCFR edition 2026-01-01). Where a rating depends on measurements, the figures in your examination report are what decide it — which is why an examination that skipped a required measurement is worth challenging.

Other names for this condition

VA and treating providers may use different terms for the same condition. If your records use any of these, they may still support a claim for Hypertensive heart disease:

• Cardiac hypertrophy
• congestive heart failure
• arterial hypertension

What evidence decides the rating

For cardiovascular system conditions, these are the findings VA weighs when assigning a percentage. If your examination did not address them, the examination may be inadequate for rating purposes — which is itself an argument on appeal.

• METs testing — either an exercise stress test or an interview-based METs estimate with the examiner's rationale
• Left ventricular ejection fraction
• Evidence of congestive heart failure episodes and their frequency
• For hypertension: predominant diastolic and systolic readings, and whether continuous medication is required

Why these claims get denied or under-rated

These are the failure patterns we see most often on hypertensive heart disease and related cardiovascular system claims:

• No METs testing was performed and no interview-based estimate with rationale was provided
• Hypertension denied because current readings are controlled by medication, without addressing what the readings would be without it
• Predominant readings were taken from a single visit rather than across the record

If your claim was denied or under-rated

A denial is not the end of the claim. Which route is right depends on why VA decided the way it did:

• Higher-Level Review — when the evidence already in the file supports a grant and VA got the decision wrong, or the examination was inadequate.
• Supplemental Claim — when you have new and relevant evidence, such as a private nexus opinion.
• Board Appeal — when you need a Veterans Law Judge to decide, or want a hearing.
• Clear and Unmistakable Error — when a decision more than a year old contains an undebatable error, which can recover retroactive pay.

Effective dates matter as much as the percentage. See effective dates and back pay for how far back an award can reach.

Sources

• 38 CFR Part 4 rating criteria on eCFR
• VA Disability Benefits Questionnaires (DBQ) index

Related conditions

• Heart attack (myocardial infarction) (DC 7006)
• Bradycardia (DC 7009)
• Coronary artery disease (arteriosclerotic heart disease) (DC 7005)
• Supraventricular arrhythmias (DC 7010)
• Ventricular arrhythmias (DC 7011)
• Endocarditis (DC 7001)