Gallbladder conditions are rated from 0% to 30% under the VA rating schedule. Chronic gallbladder and biliary tract disease falls under Diagnostic Code 7314, which pays 30%, 10%, or 0% depending on how many documented attacks of right upper quadrant pain with nausea and vomiting you had in the past 12 months. Lasting problems after gallbladder removal are rated separately under Diagnostic Code 7318, also at 30%, 10%, or 0%, based on abdominal pain plus chronic diarrhea. Both codes were rewritten effective May 19, 2024, and the older "mild, moderate, severe" wording that most websites still publish no longer governs new claims.
This is the single most misreported area of gallbladder ratings right now. If you are reading criteria that say "severe; frequent attacks of gall bladder colic," you are reading the pre-2024 schedule.
What Changed on May 19, 2024
VA published a full rewrite of the digestive system portion of the rating schedule (38 CFR 4.114) in the Federal Register on March 20, 2024, with an effective date of May 19, 2024. The rewrite replaced subjective severity words with countable, documentable criteria across dozens of digestive codes, and it removed several codes outright.
For the gallbladder specifically, here is what the schedule looks like before and after.
| Code | Before May 19, 2024 | Today (2026) |
|---|
| 7314 | Cholecystitis, chronic. Rated mild (0%), moderate (10%), severe (30%) | Chronic biliary tract disease. Rated on documented attacks in past 12 months (0%, 10%, 30%) |
| 7315 | Cholelithiasis, chronic. Rate as chronic cholecystitis | Cholelithiasis, chronic. Rate as chronic biliary tract disease (DC 7314) |
| 7316 | Cholangitis, chronic. Rate as chronic cholecystitis | Removed and reserved. No longer exists |
| 7317 | Gall bladder, injury of. Rate as peritoneal adhesions | Gallbladder, injury of. Rate as DC 7301, 7314, or 7318, whichever reflects the predominant disability |
| 7318 | Gall bladder, removal of. Nonsymptomatic (0%), mild symptoms (10%), severe symptoms (30%) | Cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal), complications of (such as strictures and biliary leaks). Rated on pain plus diarrhea frequency (0%, 10%, 30%) |
Two practical takeaways. First, chronic cholangitis no longer has its own code, so a cholangitis claim now gets routed into DC 7314. Second, the new criteria are counting exercises. Attacks and bowel movements per day are what the rater is looking for, not an examiner's adjective.
DC 7314: Chronic Biliary Tract Disease
This is the code that covers chronic cholecystitis, chronic gallstones, biliary strictures, and other ongoing gallbladder and bile duct disease. The current criteria:
| Rating | Criteria |
|---|
| 30% | Three or more clinically documented attacks of right upper quadrant pain with nausea and vomiting during the past 12 months; or requiring dilatation of biliary tract strictures at least once during the past 12 months |
| 10% | One or two clinically documented attacks of right upper quadrant pain with nausea and vomiting in the past 12 months |
| 0% | Asymptomatic, without history of a clinically documented attack of right upper quadrant pain with nausea and vomiting in the past 12 months |
The words that decide the outcome are "clinically documented." An attack you rode out at home with a heating pad does not count unless it shows up somewhere in a medical record. A biliary attack that sent you to urgent care, produced a same-day telehealth note, or generated an ultrasound order does count.
Note also that the 30% level has a second, independent path: needing dilatation of a biliary stricture at least once in the past 12 months qualifies on its own, regardless of the attack count.
The attack itself has three required elements: right upper quadrant pain, nausea, and vomiting. If your treatment note records pain and nausea but the examiner never asked about vomiting, that attack may not be credited. This is worth raising directly with your provider when your records are being built.
DC 7318: Complications of Cholecystectomy
Most searches about gallbladder VA ratings are really about what happens after the gallbladder comes out. The current code is titled "Cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal), complications of (such as strictures and biliary leaks)," and it looks like this:
| Rating | Criteria |
|---|
| 30% | Recurrent abdominal pain (post-prandial or nocturnal); and chronic diarrhea characterized by three or more watery bowel movements per day |
| 10% | Intermittent abdominal pain; and diarrhea characterized by one to two watery bowel movements per day |
| 0% | Asymptomatic |
The conjunction matters more than anything else on this page. Both criteria at each level are joined by "and," not "or." Recurrent post-meal pain with no diarrhea does not meet 10% on its face, and neither does daily diarrhea with no abdominal pain. Under the old criteria a rater could call that combination "mild symptoms" and assign 10%. Under the current criteria, both boxes have to be checked.
"Post-prandial" means after eating. Bile dumping directly into the small intestine after cholecystectomy is a well-recognized cause of both post-meal pain and watery stools, sometimes called postcholecystectomy syndrome. If that describes you, the useful thing to bring to a C&P exam is a symptom log with dates, meal timing, and stool counts, not a general statement that your stomach has been bad since surgery.
When the Gallbladder Is Not the Predominant Problem
DC 7317 (gallbladder, injury of) does not carry its own percentages. It routes the claim to whichever of three codes reflects the predominant disability:
- DC 7301, adhesions of the peritoneum due to surgery, trauma, disease, or infection. This code goes higher than the gallbladder codes, with tiers at 0%, 10%, 30%, 50%, and 80%. The 80% level requires persistent partial bowel obstruction that is either inoperable and refractory to treatment or requires total parenteral nutrition. The 50% level requires recurrent obstruction with hospitalization at least once a year.
- DC 7314, chronic biliary tract disease.
- DC 7318, complications of cholecystectomy.
Abdominal surgery, including laparoscopic cholecystectomy, can produce scar tissue adhesions. If adhesions rather than bile symptoms are driving your disability, DC 7301 is where the higher evaluations live, and that is worth flagging in your claim.
Gallbladder cancer is handled elsewhere. Malignant neoplasms of the digestive system are rated 100% under DC 7343. That 100% rating continues beyond the end of surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, or other therapeutic treatment, and six months after treatment stops, VA schedules a mandatory examination to set the ongoing rating based on residuals.
The Pyramiding Rule Limits Stacking
You cannot simply add gallbladder codes together. The current text of 38 CFR 4.114 instructs raters not to combine evaluations under diagnostic codes 7301 through 7329, 7331, 7342, 7345 through 7350, 7352, and 7355 through 7357 with each other. Instead, when more than one of those codes would be warranted, VA assigns a single evaluation under the code that reflects the predominant disability picture, then elevates it to the next higher evaluation if the overall severity justifies it.
So a veteran with both chronic biliary tract disease and post-cholecystectomy diarrhea does not get 30% plus 30%. They get one evaluation under the predominant code, with a possible one-step elevation. That elevation is discretionary and frequently overlooked, which makes it a reasonable point to raise on a higher-level review.
What a Gallbladder Rating Pays in 2026
Ratings for a single gallbladder condition top out at 30%, so most veterans land in the lower brackets. Monthly, tax-free rates effective December 1, 2025 for a veteran with no dependents:
| Combined rating | Monthly payment |
|---|
| 10% | $180.42 |
| 20% | $356.66 |
| 30% | $552.47 |
| 40% | $795.84 |
| 50% | $1,132.90 |
| 60% | $1,435.02 |
Additional compensation for a spouse, children, or dependent parents starts at a combined rating of 30% or higher. Below 30%, dependents do not increase the payment.
Keep in mind that VA combines multiple ratings using its own formula rather than straight addition, so a 30% gallbladder rating added to existing conditions will not raise your combined rating by a full 30 points.
A 0% Rating Is Still Worth Filing For
If your gallbladder came out during service and you have no symptoms today, the schedule assigns 0%. That pays nothing, but it is not nothing. A 0% rating establishes service connection, which means the condition is already on the books if symptoms return years later. Filing an increase on an established condition is a shorter path than proving service connection from scratch a decade after separation. A 0% rating can also make you eligible for certain VA health care priority group placement.
Claims Pending Across the Effective Date
VA's rules protect veterans who were already rated when the schedule changed. Under 38 CFR 3.951(a), a readjustment to the rating schedule is not grounds for reducing a disability rating that was in effect on the date of the readjustment unless medical evidence establishes that the disability actually improved. So a veteran holding a 10% gallbladder rating from 2019 does not lose it because the 2024 criteria are harder to meet.
For claims that were pending when the criteria changed, VA's longstanding practice when rating criteria are amended mid-claim is to consider both the old and the new versions and apply whichever is more favorable, with the new criteria applicable only from their effective date forward. If you have a gallbladder claim or appeal that has been open since before May 19, 2024, and the decision applied only one set of criteria, that is a specific and reviewable error worth raising.
How to File a Gallbladder Claim
- Submit an Intent to File. Do this first, at VA.gov or by calling 800-827-1000. It locks in a potential effective date and gives you one year to complete the full application. Back pay runs from that date.
- Get the diagnosis documented. Ultrasound, CT, HIDA scan, or an operative report from a cholecystectomy. VA needs a current diagnosis, not just symptoms.
- Build the service connection. Direct service connection requires an in-service event, injury, illness, or exposure. Secondary service connection applies when an already service-connected condition, or the medication used to treat it, caused or aggravated the gallbladder condition. If the link is not obvious from the records, a nexus letter from a qualified provider stating the connection is at least as likely as not carries real weight.
- Document the countable facts. For DC 7314, that means dated records of each right upper quadrant attack with nausea and vomiting over the last 12 months. For DC 7318, that means abdominal pain plus a stool count per day. Vague notes lose these claims.
- File VA Form 21-526EZ. Online at VA.gov is fastest. A VSO can file it with you at no cost.
- Attend the C&P exam. VA uses a Gallbladder Conditions Disability Benefits Questionnaire that asks about attack frequency, surgical history, hospitalizations, imaging, and functional impact. Describe your worst weeks accurately, not your best day.
- Review the decision line by line. Check which diagnostic code was used, which criteria version was applied, and whether the predominant-disability elevation under 38 CFR 4.114 was considered.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the VA rating for gallbladder removal in 2026?
Gallbladder removal itself does not carry a standalone rating. VA rates the complications of cholecystectomy under DC 7318 at 30%, 10%, or 0%. The 30% level requires recurrent post-meal or nighttime abdominal pain along with three or more watery bowel movements per day. The 10% level requires intermittent abdominal pain along with one to two watery bowel movements per day. With no lasting symptoms, the rating is 0%.
What is the maximum VA rating for gallbladder disease?
Thirty percent under either DC 7314 or DC 7318. Higher evaluations are only reachable if the predominant disability is something else, such as peritoneal adhesions under DC 7301 (up to 80%) or a malignant neoplasm under DC 7343 (100% during and for six months after treatment).
Does DC 7316 for chronic cholangitis still exist?
No. DC 7316 was removed and reserved effective May 19, 2024. Chronic cholangitis is now evaluated under DC 7314, chronic biliary tract disease.
Can I get a rating for gallstones that have not been removed?
Yes. Chronic cholelithiasis is DC 7315, and the instruction is to rate it as chronic biliary tract disease under DC 7314. The rating depends on documented attacks in the past 12 months, not on the number or size of the stones.
Can I get separate ratings for chronic biliary disease and cholecystectomy complications?
Generally no. 38 CFR 4.114 prohibits combining evaluations under DC 7301 through 7329 with each other. VA assigns one evaluation under the code reflecting the predominant disability and may elevate it one step if the overall severity warrants it.
Will my old gallbladder rating be reduced under the new criteria?
Not because of the rewrite alone. 38 CFR 3.951(a) states that a readjustment to the rating schedule is not grounds for reducing a rating in effect on the date of the readjustment unless medical evidence establishes that the disability has actually improved. A rating continuously held at or above a level for 20 years is separately protected under 38 CFR 3.951(b).
Can a gallbladder condition be service-connected secondary to another condition?
Yes. If a service-connected condition, or the medication prescribed for it, caused or aggravated your gallbladder or biliary disease, secondary service connection is available. You will generally need a medical opinion explaining the causal link, since VA rarely infers it on its own.
How many attacks do I need for a 30% rating under DC 7314?
Three or more clinically documented attacks of right upper quadrant pain with nausea and vomiting in the past 12 months. Alternatively, needing dilatation of biliary tract strictures at least once in the past 12 months meets 30% on its own.
