Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2023C00151:reg:45:p1
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2023C00151
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 45 (pt 1/4)
Character Range: 448182–451101

45                                 45         37          34          26          17          12          0                90                  90         86          83          68          42          29          0

No age adjustment permitted for this table

CHAPTER 20

APPORTIONMENT

INTRODUCTION

Throughout this Guide, if a condition can be rated using both a functional loss table and an Other Impairment table, only the higher of the two ratings is to be given to the veteran. This is usually quite a simple thing to do.

However, in some cases, it might not be so straightforward. For example, a veteran has two accepted cardiorespiratory conditions. One is ischaemic heart disease and the other is chronic bronchitis. From METs and spirometry it is found that the veteran's functional impairment rating is 20 points. It is also found that the veteran's ischaemic heart disease corresponds to a rating of 10 points from Table 1.6 and the veteran's chronic bronchitis corresponds to a rating of 5 points from Table 1.10.

Without apportionment the only applicable cardiorespiratory rating would be 20 points and the 10 and 5 point ratings would have to be disregarded because they are both less than 20. This approach would sometimes disadvantage the veteran.

A method of establishing the separate contribution of ischaemic heart disease and the chronic bronchitis to the functional impairment would enable a separation of their contributions thus allowing the comparison of functional and Other Impairments on a condition by condition basis. Such a method is called "apportionment". Apportionment provides a method for determining whether a rating greater than 20 should be given to the veteran in the example.

Tables 20.1 to 20.13 have been constructed by finding a set of impairment ratings which have the same value as the contribution to the rating to be apportioned, and which, when combined using the Combined Values Chart in Chapter 18, are equal to the original impairment rating.

If the apportionment has to be done in ratios that are not included in Tables 20.1 to 20.13, then the apportionment may be performed by applying Table 18.1 (Combined Values Chart) in reverse. Should more than one solution be possible, that which is the best fit is to be used.

The ratings that result from the application of apportionment can never be less than those which the same conditions would have attracted had apportionment not been applied.

HOW TO USE APPORTIONMENT

INSTRUCTIONS

Follow the steps below in applying apportionment.

STEP 1  Determine if apportionment is to be used.

        Apportionment is to be used when it is necessary, for a given accepted condition, to compare an impairment rating derived from one table with an impairment rating derived from another table, and when two or more accepted conditions contribute to the impairment ratings from either table.
STEP 2  Find