Methodology
Where every number comes from
VeteranPlug is generated from a data pipeline, not written from other websites. This page documents the sources, the refresh schedule, and the checks that stop bad numbers from publishing.
By Mario Bailey — U.S. Air Force veteran · current Air National Guard member.
Sources
- Rating criteria — parsed from the eCFR's official XML of 38 CFR Part 4 (the Schedule for Rating Disabilities). Criteria tables on condition pages are quoted verbatim, never paraphrased. Currently parsed issue: 2026-02-27, current through 2026-06-08.
- Calculator math — the combined ratings table (§4.25, Table I) is parsed from the same eCFR XML, and our combination function is automatically tested against every cell of that table. The bilateral factor follows §4.26.
- Compensation amounts — parsed from va.gov's veteran compensation rate tables, currently effective 2025-12-01, including all dependent variations.
- Claims workload — from the VBA Monday Morning Workload Report weekly workbook (currently the week through 2026-06-06), at national, state, and regional-office level.
Validation before publishing
Every refresh runs automated checks before anything goes live: regulatory anchors (e.g., tinnitus's maximum schedular rating must parse as 10%), structural completeness (the combined ratings table must contain all 76 rows; every rating level must have all 12 dependent statuses), cross-source reconciliation (workbook totals must equal the headline numbers VBA publishes separately), and week-over-week sanity limits. If any check fails, the site simply doesn't update until a human looks at it.
Refresh schedule
- Claims workload: weekly, after VBA posts the Monday report.
- Rating criteria: re-parsed on the same weekly run; the CFR changes rarely, and amendments are picked up automatically.
- Compensation rates: change annually with the COLA (effective December 1); the pipeline detects the new tables when va.gov publishes them.
Every data table on the site carries its own source line with the retrieval date.
Corrections
If a number on this site doesn't match its cited source, that's a bug and we want it. Report it — corrections get priority over everything else.
What we won't publish
- Statistics that can't be traced to the VA, the CFR, or our own pipeline output.
- "Average payout" or "approval rate" claims without a primary source.
- Anything implying we can prepare or assist with a claim. We can't and don't — see a free VA-accredited representative or VSO.