Veterans Service-Connected Claims and Presumptive Conditions

Veterans benefits are complicated... and that's an understatement. At various times in this blog, I try to shed some light on the system. Today I'd like to tell you about "presumptive conditions," a topic too many veterans and their surviving spouses fail to understand.

What is a presumptive condition? It's a health diagnosis that the V.A. presumes to be related to a veterans's military service. Thus, when a veteran files a claim for service-connected benefits, or surviving family members file for benefits if the veteran has succumbed to such a condition, it is not necessary to "prove" a connection between the health problem and military service. The connection is presumed to exist. Obviously, having this information may make it far easier for veterans and families to successfully make a claim. Here is a partial list of presumptive conditions. There are many more.

• Certain cancers if the veteran was stationed in Hiroshima or Nagasaki after the bomb, or worked in areas where atomic testing was done.
• Multiple sclerosis, if diagnosed within seven years of discharge from military service.
• Chronic conditions like hypertension, arthitis, etc. if diagnosed within one year of discharge.
• Psychosis, anxiety, high blood pressure, heart disease, osteoporosis, stroke and several other conditions if the veteran was a POW.
• Certain cancers, type II diabetes, ischemic heart condition or Parkinson's disease are considered presumptive in veterans who served in Vietnam any time from February 28, 1961 through May 7, 1975  or on one of several ships recently named by the VA.
• ALS (ou Gehrig 's disease)  if the veterans served 90 days active duty regardless of war time. It has recently been proposed by the Federal Registry that such a veteran be automatically rated at 100%.

For further information on presumptive conditions, click here and scroll down to Section 3.309, "Disease subject to Presumptive Service Connection." (Note: it can take a long time for this page to download.) Or contact your local Veterans Service Organization.

For information on long-term care benefits for veterans and surviving spouses, click here.