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Ready to rate means that your file has been in development and they have accumulated the evidence needed to support a decision either for or against an initial claim for service connection for an issue, an increase, etc. From this phase your claim will be assigned a rater / adjudicator and they will begin to review the evidence in your file and make an attempt to either grant you service connection for the issue or determine that there is no service connection, etc. Just because your claim makes it to the rating board for review by a rater does not mean that it cannot ping pong back and forth between the development phase and the rating phase. The reason a claim might go back to the development phase from the rating phase might be that the rater deems that he or she needs more supporting medical evidence, a C&P exam, testing to be done to clarify an issue, etc. Once these issues are addressed and the rater is satisfied then he or she can make a determination on the claim. Once a determination is made either for or against service connection then the claim will be signed off and a letter will be sent out letting you know their decision and any awards, etc. From there if you are granted a percentage, increase, etc. you claim will be sent to the payment processing center and you will be paid any accrued benefits from the beginning of your claim for the percentage awarded if any.

Last but not least you asked about your claim maturing. What this means is that your file has been at your Regional Office for almost a year. Emphasis is placed upon claims that go over the one year mark as outstanding claims of this length have to be reported. The paper pushers higher up request that claims over one year be looked at more stringently in an effort to make a determination and get your claim resolved. Hope this helps you understand the process.