Body system: Digestive SystemRegulation: 38 CFR § 4.114DBQ: DBQ GI Liver Conditions
This diagnostic code covers liver transplant surgery, which is when your diseased liver is surgically replaced with a healthy liver from a donor. The VA gives you 100% disability rating indefinitely starting from when you're admitted to the hospital for transplant surgery. If you're on the transplant waiting list, you get at least 60%, and after your transplant, you get at least 30% for life, though you'll likely qualify for higher ratings based on ongoing symptoms and complications.
Rating levels
- 100% — If you receive a liver transplant, the 100% rating starts the day you are admitted to the hospital for the surgery and continues until a mandatory VA examination one year after you are discharged, which sets the rating that follows (never below the 30% minimum for a transplant recipient). The regulation calls the period "indefinite" because it has no fixed length, not because it never ends.
- 60% — You have been approved and placed on the waiting list for a liver transplant surgery. This is the lowest rating the VA gives to veterans who need a liver transplant, recognizing that your liver condition is severe enough to require a complete organ replacement. The rating acknowledges the serious nature of your condition while you wait for a suitable donor liver to become available.
- 30% — After you have received a liver transplant, the VA automatically assigns this as the lowest possible rating level. This minimum rating recognizes that having undergone major organ transplant surgery creates ongoing health impacts and medical needs, regardless of how well you may be recovering or functioning day-to-day.