Unlike the DoD, the VA will give a VA disability rating for every condition a disabled American veteran has that was caused
by military service or occurred while in the military, with a few exceptions.
First, a condition MUST be service-connected to qualify for VA disability. “Service-connected” means that the condition was either directly caused by military service (you sprained your ankle during training, you were exposed to chemicals while deployed, etc.) or was diagnosed while in the military (you were diagnosed with a kidney condition, you were in a car accident while off-duty, etc.). If you broke your arm in fourth grade, it obviously can’t be rated since the military had nothing to do with it at all. This also goes for genetic conditions, since you would have gotten the condition whether or not you were in the military. See our Existed Prior To Services (EPTS) page for the exceptions to this rule.
Specifically, the VA will NOT rate the following:
As long as your
condition does not fall into one of these categories or existed prior to service, you can receive VA Disability Benefits for it. You
do, however, HAVE to list it on your VA disability claim application. If you submit an
application to the VA, but don’t mention a condition on the application, it
won’t be rated. They have to know about it before they will rate it.
Luckily, if you have a
condition that wasn’t rated by the VA, but does qualify, you can submit a new claim for
that condition at any time. They will always update your ratings or add new
conditions to your disability.
Further information about what can or cannot be rated for military disability can be found on our Conditions that are Not Ratable page.
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