Peptic ulcer disease is rated under Diagnostic Code 7304 in 38 CFR 4.114, at 0, 20, 40, 60, or 100 percent. There is no 10 percent tier. The ratings turn on how often you have episodes of abdominal pain, nausea, or vomiting, how long those episodes last, and whether you take daily prescribed medication for them. The old separate codes for gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer, and marginal ulcer no longer exist. VA removed DC 7305 and DC 7306 effective May 19, 2024, and folded all peptic ulcer disease into a single consolidated DC 7304.
This matters because most articles you will find on this topic still describe the pre-2024 schedule, the one built around "mild, moderate, moderately severe, severe" with anemia and weight loss. That schedule was replaced. If you are reading criteria that mention "recurrent incapacitating episodes averaging 10 days or more," you are reading a version of the regulation that no longer governs new claims.
One quick disambiguation: if you searched for "ulcers" but you actually have ulcerative colitis, that is a different disease of the large intestine and it is rated under a completely different framework. See our guide to the VA disability rating for ulcerative colitis. This page covers peptic ulcer disease only, meaning ulcers of the stomach and duodenum.
Current DC 7304 Rating Criteria
These are the criteria in force today, taken from the current text of 38 CFR 4.114.
| Rating | Criteria |
|---|
| 100% | Post-operative for perforation or hemorrhage, for three months |
| 60% | Continuous abdominal pain with intermittent vomiting, recurrent hematemesis (vomiting blood) or melena (tarry stools); and manifestations of anemia which require hospitalization at least once in the past 12 months |
| 40% | Episodes of abdominal pain, nausea, or vomiting that last at least three consecutive days, occur four or more times in the past 12 months, and are managed by daily prescribed medication |
| 20% | Episodes of abdominal pain, nausea, or vomiting that last at least three consecutive days, occur three times or less in the past 12 months, and are managed by daily prescribed medication |
| 0% | History of peptic ulcer disease documented by endoscopy or diagnostic imaging studies |
The 100 percent evaluation is temporary. The regulation includes a note: after three months at 100 percent, VA rates on residuals as determined by a mandatory VA medical examination, and applies the reduction procedures in 38 CFR 3.105(e) to any change based on that or any later exam.
What the Criteria Actually Turn On
Read the 20 and 40 percent tiers closely, because three separate elements have to be documented and each one is a place claims fall apart.
Duration. An episode has to last at least three consecutive days. A bad afternoon is not an episode under this code. Your records need to show the episode ran across days.
Frequency in the past 12 months. Four or more qualifying episodes gets 40 percent. Three or fewer gets 20 percent. The count is over the previous 12 months, not over your lifetime with the condition.
Daily prescribed medication. Both tiers require that the episodes are managed by daily prescribed medication. Over-the-counter antacids you buy yourself do not satisfy this. A prescription proton pump inhibitor taken daily does. If your ulcer was cured by an H. pylori eradication course years ago and you take nothing now, you are looking at the 0 percent tier, which establishes service connection but pays nothing on its own.
The 60 percent tier is a different kind of test. It requires bleeding, anemia, and at least one hospitalization in the past 12 months. Continuous pain alone will not reach it.
What Changed on May 19, 2024
VA published a final rule revising the entire digestive system rating schedule at 89 FR 19735 on March 20, 2024, effective May 19, 2024. Appendix A to Part 4, VA's own table of amendments, records the change plainly.
| Old code | Old title | Status now |
|---|
| 7304 | Ulcer, gastric | Retitled "Peptic ulcer disease." Title, evaluation, criteria, and note all changed May 19, 2024 |
| 7305 | Ulcer, duodenal | Removed May 19, 2024 |
| 7306 | Ulcer, marginal (gastrojejunal) | Removed May 19, 2024 |
| 7307 | Gastritis, chronic | Now rated as peptic ulcer disease under DC 7304 |
DC 7307 is worth knowing about. Chronic gastritis no longer has its own criteria. It is rated as peptic ulcer disease under DC 7304, and the note under 7307 states that the code includes Helicobacter pylori infection, drug-induced gastritis, Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, and portal-hypertensive gastropathy with varix-related complications. So an H. pylori claim and a drug-induced gastritis claim both land on the DC 7304 criteria table above.
A few related codes route back to 7304 as well. DC 7309 (stenosis of the stomach) is rated as either chronic complications of upper gastrointestinal surgery under DC 7303 or peptic ulcer disease under DC 7304, depending on the predominant disability. And under DC 7348, a recurrent ulcer following complete vagotomy is rated under DC 7304 with a minimum rating of 20 percent.
If You Were Already Rated Before May 19, 2024
38 CFR 3.951(a) is the protection, and it is short enough to quote in full:
A readjustment to the Schedule for Rating Disabilities shall not be grounds for reduction of a disability rating in effect on the date of the readjustment unless medical evidence establishes that the disability to be evaluated has actually improved.
In plain terms: the schedule changing is not by itself a reason to cut your rating. If you were rated 40 percent for a duodenal ulcer under the old DC 7305 in 2019, VA cannot reduce you to 20 percent just because the criteria you were rated under got deleted. A reduction requires medical evidence that your condition actually improved, and it requires VA to follow the due process in 38 CFR 3.105(e), which includes advance written notice and an opportunity to submit evidence and request a hearing before any reduction takes effect.
Two practical notes. First, if you file for an increase, VA will look at your current condition, and an increase claim can surface evidence of improvement. That is a real risk with any increase claim, not something new about this rule change. Second, 38 CFR 3.951(b) separately protects any evaluation that has been continuously in effect for 20 or more years, which cannot be reduced absent a showing of fraud.
If you already carry a rating under the removed DC 7305 or 7306, your code may still appear that way on older decision documents. That does not affect your payment.
Service Connection Routes for Peptic Ulcer Disease
Direct service connection. A current diagnosis, an in-service event or symptom, and a medical nexus linking the two. Ulcers documented in service treatment records with continuous symptoms since are the cleanest version of this.
The one-year presumption. Peptic ulcers are on VA's list of chronic diseases in 38 CFR 3.309(a). The listing reads "Ulcers, peptic (gastric or duodenal)." Under 38 CFR 3.307(a)(3), a chronic disease that appears to a compensable degree within one year of separation is presumed service connected without proof of in-service onset. Compensable here means 20 percent or higher under the current criteria, since 0 percent pays nothing. The 3.309(a) entry adds that a proper peptic ulcer diagnosis is established where the preponderance of evidence indicates a gastric or duodenal ulcer, with laboratory findings used to corroborate the clinical data where possible.
Secondary service connection, including NSAIDs. This is the most common real path and the one most veterans miss. Under 38 CFR 3.310(a), a disability that is proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disease or injury is itself service connected. Long-term nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use is a leading cause of peptic ulcer disease. If you have a service-connected back, knee, or shoulder condition and you have been taking prescribed ibuprofen, naproxen, meloxicam, or diclofenac for years, an ulcer that developed on that regimen is a legitimate secondary claim.
To make it work you need three things: the diagnosed ulcer, the established service-connected musculoskeletal condition, and a medical opinion connecting the prescribed NSAID use to the ulcer. Pharmacy records showing the length and dosage of the prescription do a lot of the work here.
Aggravation. Under 38 CFR 3.310(b), if a service-connected condition made a pre-existing ulcer worse, VA compensates the degree of aggravation. VA establishes a baseline level of severity before the aggravation and rates the increase above it.
The Pyramiding Rule
The opening instruction of 38 CFR 4.114 says not to combine ratings under diagnostic codes 7301 through 7329 with each other. When more than one of those codes would apply, VA assigns a single evaluation under the code reflecting the predominant disability picture, and elevates it to the next higher evaluation if the overall severity warrants.
DC 7304 falls inside that range, and so do GERD at DC 7206 and irritable bowel syndrome at DC 7319. You will not receive separate stacked percentages for an ulcer and GERD and IBS. You get one rating under whichever code best captures the dominant picture. Since the codes have very different ceilings, which one VA picks matters. DC 7304 tops out at 60 percent on a permanent basis, while DC 7206 reaches 80 percent and DC 7319 caps at 30 percent.
2026 VA Disability Compensation Rates
These rates took effect December 1, 2025, following a 2.8 percent cost-of-living adjustment, and are the rates paid throughout 2026. Figures are for a veteran with no dependents.
| Rating | Monthly payment |
|---|
| 10% | $180.42 |
| 20% | $356.66 |
| 30% | $552.47 |
| 40% | $795.84 |
| 50% | $1,132.90 |
| 60% | $1,435.02 |
| 70% | $1,808.45 |
| 80% | $2,102.15 |
| 90% | $2,362.30 |
| 100% | $3,938.58 |
Additional compensation for dependents starts at the 30 percent level. A veteran rated 30 percent with a spouse and no other dependents receives $617.47, at 60 percent with a spouse $1,566.02, and at 100 percent with a spouse $4,158.17. A 0 percent rating pays nothing but still establishes service connection, which preserves your effective date and opens the door to VA health care enrollment and future increase claims.
Ratings do not add. A 20 percent ulcer rating combined with an existing 40 percent rating does not produce 60 percent. VA uses the combined ratings table in 38 CFR 4.25, then rounds to the nearest 10.
How to File
- Get the diagnosis documented. DC 7304 requires the condition to be documented by endoscopy or diagnostic imaging even at the 0 percent level. An upper endoscopy report is the strongest single document you can have.
- Build the frequency record. The 20 and 40 percent tiers hinge on counted episodes over 12 months. Ask your provider to note episode start and end dates in the record. A symptom journal you keep yourself supports this but does not replace clinical documentation.
- Pull your pharmacy history. Daily prescribed medication is an element of both compensable tiers. For a secondary NSAID claim, the same pharmacy history is your causation evidence.
- File the claim. Submit VA Form 21-526EZ online at va.gov, by mail, or through an accredited VSO representative. Filing an intent to file first can preserve an earlier effective date for up to a year.
- Attend the C&P exam. VA will schedule an examination using its Disability Benefits Questionnaire for stomach and duodenal conditions. Describe your worst episodes and their duration in days, not your best day.
- For a secondary claim, get a nexus opinion. A private opinion from a gastroenterologist stating it is at least as likely as not that prescribed NSAID therapy for your service-connected condition caused or aggravated the ulcer is often the difference between a grant and a denial.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the highest permanent VA rating for a stomach ulcer?
Sixty percent. The 100 percent evaluation under DC 7304 applies only for three months following surgery for perforation or hemorrhage, after which a mandatory VA examination determines the rating on residuals.
Are DC 7305 and DC 7306 still used?
No. VA removed both diagnostic codes effective May 19, 2024. Duodenal ulcer and marginal ulcer are now rated under the consolidated DC 7304, Peptic ulcer disease.
Can my rating be reduced because the criteria changed?
Not on that basis alone. Under 38 CFR 3.951(a), a readjustment to the rating schedule is not grounds for reduction unless medical evidence establishes that the disability has actually improved. Any reduction also requires the advance notice and due process in 38 CFR 3.105(e).
Is H. pylori infection ratable?
Yes. The note under DC 7307 (chronic gastritis) states that the code includes Helicobacter pylori infection, and DC 7307 is rated using the DC 7304 peptic ulcer disease criteria.
Can I get a rating for an ulcer caused by pain medication for my service-connected back?
Yes, as a secondary claim under 38 CFR 3.310. Long-term NSAID use is a well-recognized cause of peptic ulcer disease. You need the ulcer diagnosis, the established service-connected condition, and a medical opinion connecting the prescribed medication to the ulcer.
Can I get separate ratings for my ulcer and my GERD?
No. The opening instruction of 38 CFR 4.114 prohibits combining ratings under diagnostic codes 7301 through 7329. VA assigns one evaluation under the code reflecting the predominant disability picture, elevated to the next higher level if overall severity warrants.
Does a 0 percent rating do anything?
It does not pay compensation, but it establishes service connection and locks in your effective date. If your ulcer worsens later, you file for an increase rather than starting a new claim, and any increase relates back to that established service connection.
What if my ulcer was cured and I have no symptoms now?
A documented history of peptic ulcer disease confirmed by endoscopy or imaging supports a 0 percent rating. Without daily prescribed medication and qualifying episodes, the current criteria do not support a compensable evaluation.
Rating criteria in this article are quoted from the current text of 38 CFR 4.114 and 38 CFR 3.951, and from the VA final rule at 89 FR 19735 (March 20, 2024), effective May 19, 2024. Compensation rates are the VA rates effective December 1, 2025. Benefits Navigator is not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
