Hematuria VA Disability Rating: Diagnostic Codes and Percentages

The VA does not assign a hematuria VA disability rating as a standalone condition, because blood in the urine is treated as a lab finding rather than a disability. Instead, the VA identifies the underlying condition producing the hematuria — a bladder injury, kidney disease, prostatitis, urinary tract infection, or cancer — and rates that condition by analogy under the genitourinary criteria in 38 CFR § 4.115a. Depending on which symptoms predominate, the resulting rating can range from 0% to 100%.

Why Hematuria Alone Cannot Be Rated

Multiple Board of Veterans’ Appeals decisions have held that hematuria is an abnormal laboratory finding, not a disability. A 2011 decision categorized microscopic hematuria as “a finding on diagnostic testing” comparable to elevated cholesterol.¹ A 2018 Board decision reached the same conclusion, ruling that a symptom without a “diagnosed or identifiable underlying malady or condition” is not compensable.²

The consequence is straightforward. To receive any compensation, the hematuria has to be linked to a diagnosed condition that itself qualifies as a ratable disability. Filing for “hematuria” as the disability generally fails; filing for the condition causing it is what moves the claim forward.

How the VA Picks a Diagnostic Code

Because there is no diagnostic code for hematuria itself, the VA rates it by analogy under 38 CFR § 4.20, which allows an unlisted condition to be rated under a closely related disease or injury when the affected functions, anatomical location, and symptomatology match.³ The regulation bars conjectural analogies and requires clinical and laboratory support.

Board decisions show hematuria rated under several different codes depending on the cause:

Diagnostic Code 7517 for bladder injury, evaluated as voiding dysfunction.⁴
Diagnostic Code 7502 for nephritis, evaluated as renal dysfunction.⁵
Diagnostic Code 7527 for prostatitis and other prostate conditions, rated as voiding dysfunction or urinary tract infection depending on which symptoms predominate.⁶
The urinary tract infection criteria in 38 CFR § 4.115a when hematuria accompanies recurrent infections.²

When more than one code could apply, the VA is required to use the criteria most favorable to the veteran.

The Rating Percentages

Under 38 CFR § 4.115a, genitourinary conditions are rated by their “predominant area of dysfunction.” The three main frameworks each carry their own percentage scale.⁷

Voiding Dysfunction

Voiding dysfunction is divided into three subcategories, and only the predominant one is rated.

Urine leakage (incontinence):

60% — requires an appliance or absorbent materials changed more than four times per day.
40% — absorbent materials changed two to four times per day.
20% — absorbent materials changed fewer than two times per day.

Urinary frequency:

40% — daytime voiding interval under one hour, or waking to void five or more times per night.
20% — daytime interval of one to two hours, or waking three to four times per night.
10% — daytime interval of two to three hours, or waking twice per night.

Obstructed voiding:

30% — urinary retention requiring intermittent or continuous catheterization.
10% — marked obstructive symptoms (hesitancy, weak or slow stream) with at least one of: post-void residuals over 150 cc, peak flow below 10 cc/sec, recurrent infections from the obstruction, or stricture disease needing dilation every two to three months.
0% — obstructive symptoms with or without stricture disease requiring dilation one to two times per year.

Renal Dysfunction

Effective November 14, 2021, the VA replaced older subjective terms with objective lab measurements, primarily Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR).⁸

100% — GFR below 15 mL/min/1.73 m² for at least three months, or regular dialysis, or kidney transplant recipient.
80% — GFR of 15 to 29.
60% — GFR of 30 to 44.
30% — GFR of 45 to 59.
0% — GFR of 60 to 89 with at least one of: recurrent RBC, WBC, or granular casts; structural kidney abnormalities; or albumin-to-creatinine ratio of 30 mg/g or higher.

Urinary Tract Infection

30% — recurrent symptomatic infection requiring drainage by stent or nephrostomy tube, more than two hospitalizations per year, or continuous intensive management.
10% — recurrent symptomatic infection requiring one to two hospitalizations per year or suppressive drug therapy for six months or longer.
0% — recurrent symptomatic infection requiring suppressive drug therapy for less than six months.

If poor kidney function also exists, the VA rates the condition under the renal dysfunction criteria when that produces the higher rating.

Getting the Underlying Condition Service-Connected

Direct service connection follows the standard three-element test: a current diagnosed disability, an in-service event or exposure, and a medical nexus opinion linking the two.¹ The diagnosis has to be of the condition causing the hematuria, not the hematuria itself.

One 2018 case shows how this plays out. A veteran filed for “hematuria,” and the Board recharacterized the claim to cover the underlying prostatitis. It then granted service connection based on records of chronic bacterial prostatitis beginning during active duty, and the veteran was ultimately rated 30% and later 40% under Diagnostic Code 7527 as symptoms worsened.⁶

Presumptive Pathways

Some causes of hematuria carry presumptive service connection, which removes the nexus burden:

Nephritis, including IgA nephropathy (Berger’s disease), is a chronic disease under 38 CFR § 3.309 and is presumed service-connected if it manifests to a compensable degree within one year of discharge.⁹
Camp Lejeune veterans who served at least 30 days between August 1953 and December 1987 have presumptive service connection for bladder and kidney cancer.¹⁰
Bladder cancer is a presumptive condition for veterans exposed to Agent Orange or other tactical herbicides.¹¹
In January 2025, the VA established presumptive service connection for bladder, ureter, and related genitourinary cancers tied to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure, expanding on the PACT Act’s earlier coverage of kidney cancer. It applies to service in the Southwest Asia theater, Somalia, Afghanistan, and other qualifying locations and periods.¹²

What the C&P Exam Measures

The specific numbers on the Disability Benefits Questionnaire drive the rating percentage, so it helps to know what the examiner will be documenting. The VA uses two DBQs relevant to hematuria claims, both available on the public DBQ page.¹³

The Urinary Tract Conditions DBQ records how often absorbent materials are needed, daytime and nighttime voiding frequency, obstructive symptoms like hesitancy or weak stream, post-void residual volume, and peak flow rate.¹⁴ The Kidney Conditions DBQ documents GFR sustained over at least three consecutive months, RBC or granular casts, structural abnormalities, and albumin-to-creatinine ratio.¹⁵ Both ask the examiner to describe functional effects on work.

A veteran’s own physician can complete either DBQ, and submitting one with current lab work, urology records, and a detailed account of daily symptoms gives the rater the specific measurements that map onto the percentage tables.

If the Claim Is Denied or Underrated

Under the Appeals Modernization Act, which took effect in February 2019, veterans have three review paths, and each must be initiated within one year of the decision being appealed.¹⁶

A Supplemental Claim (VA Form 20-0995) is the right choice when there is new and relevant evidence, such as a new nexus letter or updated lab results. The VA has a duty to assist in gathering evidence.
A Higher-Level Review (VA Form 20-0996) asks a senior reviewer to look for errors in the existing record. No new evidence can be added. The VA targets about 125 days, and an informal conference with the reviewer is available on request.¹⁷
A Board of Veterans’ Appeals review by a Veterans Law Judge allows new evidence and offers the option of a hearing.

A denied Higher-Level Review can still be followed by a Supplemental Claim with new evidence or a Board appeal.

1
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. BVA Decision, Citation Nr 1137603
2
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. BVA Decision, Citation Nr 1810714
3
Legal Information Institute. 38 CFR § 4.20 – Analogous Ratings
4
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. BVA Decision, Citation Nr 1029717
5
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. BVA Decision, Citation Nr 9804368
6
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. BVA Decision, Citation Nr 1821503
7
eCFR. 38 CFR § 4.115a – Ratings of the Genitourinary System
8
Federal Register. Schedule for Rating Disabilities: The Genitourinary Diseases and Conditions
9
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. BVA Decision, Citation Nr 1503871
10
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Camp Lejeune Water Contamination
11
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Agent Orange Exposure and VA Disability Compensation
12
Federal Register. Presumptive Service Connection for Bladder, Ureter, and Related Genitourinary Cancers
13
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Disability Benefits Questionnaires
14
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Urinary Tract Conditions Disability Benefits Questionnaire
15
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Kidney Conditions Disability Benefits Questionnaire
16
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Decision Reviews and Appeals
17
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Higher-Level Review