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How To Submit a Perfect VA Disability Claim

  • Last Updated: September 30, 2022
So it’s time to submit your VA Disability Claim, and you want to make it the best it can possibly be in order to decrease the processing time and ensure the most accurate ratings for your conditions. Good for you! You are already so much closer to success than the majority of Disabled Veterans out there.
 
We cover the basics of submitting a claim on our VA Disability Claim page, but there are two areas that, with a bit extra attention, can turn a good claim into an outstanding claim.
 
#1: Listing Your Conditions
 
How you list your conditions is very important. I’ve heard many theories on the best way to list your conditions, and I’ve come up with what I believe to be the best approach.
 
1. List every condition you have. When you are putting together your claim, it is not your place to assume to know what the VA’s Rating Authorities will and won’t rate. Yes, you should definitely be knowledgeable about it and have a pretty good idea, but ultimately, it is the Rating Authority’s decision what will be rated, not yours. You may hear about things like the Pyramiding Principle that won’t allow conditions that affect the same body function to both be rated. This is a true principle, but don’t then say, “Well, if they won’t rate both, then I’ll only list one.”
 
NO. It’s very nice of you and everything to want to make the Rating Authority’s job easier, but this part of the claim is NOT the place to do it. By not listing the second condition, you have ensured that that condition will not be rated at all. There is no way. They will only rate conditions that you tell them to consider and rate. If you don’t list it, they won’t do it. There may be a special circumstance (the VASRD has many) that you don’t know about that makes an exception to the Pyramiding Principle in your particular case, and both of your conditions can, in fact, be rated. Since you chose to not list the one, however, you’ve taken this option off the table.
 
The Rating Authorities will look at every condition that you list and will break them down and combine them as needed to give you the best rating possible for all of your conditions. It’s their job. List EVERYTHING you have, and you’ll keep from limiting yourself at this stage.
 
2. Only list diagnosed conditions. While you definitely need to list every condition you have, let’s not go overboard. List only conditions that have been officially diagnosed. There are two layers to this guidance.
 
First, you don’t want to list every single symptom that you have. A symptom is NOT a condition. If you list every single symptom you have, you will definitely annoy your Rating Authority, no question. Not a good idea. List only diagnosed conditions. So if you have GERD, don’t also list heartburn. Heartburn is a symptom of GERD and would thus be covered by a rating for GERD. It is NOT a condition in and of itself, but a product of the GERD. Just list GERD. Similarly, if you have arthritis in your elbow, don’t also list elbow pain. The number one symptom of arthritis is pain, so it’s already a given. Arthritis is the official diagnosis, so just list that.
 
Now all this being said, if you don’t know if a symptom is covered by a particular diagnosis, it is better to go ahead and list it separately than leave it off. Use your best judgement here.
 
Second, do NOT list a condition that has not been officially diagnosed. For example, if you personally think that you have PTSD, but nowhere in any official medical record has PTSD been diagnosed by a psychologist, then listing PTSD is a sure fire way to get your claim denied. If you disagree with a diagnosis that a physician has made, then you need to take that up with your physician and have him change the diagnosis. Never apply for a condition that has not been diagnosed or cannot be found in your medical record. Your claim for that condition will be denied.
 
Instead, list whatever HAS been diagnosed. In the case of PTSD, if your psychologist only listed Anxiety Disorder as a mental health diagnosis in your medical records, then by all means list Anxiety Disorder on your claim. The Rating Authority will see that it was clearly diagnosed and will rate it accordingly. In this particular case, as well, although PTSD may sound more severe, both PTSD and Anxiety Disorder are rated on the exact same criteria, so regardless of the name, this vet will receive the same rating. The name doesn’t make a difference in this case except that a claim for undiagnosed PTSD will be denied while a claim for Anxiety Disorder will not. List whatever conditions you have been diagnosed with, and your claim will be processed correctly.
 
3. Don’t be vague. I’ve heard some people say to just list a generic idea like “stomach condition.” What?! What is a stomach condition? Can you be any more vague? What kind of condition? No doctor will ever diagnose someone with a “stomach condition.” Again, list your diagnoses. You aren’t covering more territory by being vague, instead you are making the Rating Authority’s job harder by having to figure out what the heck you mean by “stomach condition.” List what you have.
 
If you have something that has been recorded in your medical record, like stomach pain, but no official diagnosis was ever made, then just list it as found in your medical record. Don’t be vague and call it a “stomach condition.” List it as it appears in your records: “stomach pain.”
 
Believe it or not, “pain” is a legit thing when it comes to Military Disability. In some cases, like pain with motion in the joints, it can even be rated without an official diagnosis. Regardless, you have nothing to lose by listing it, so if you don’t have a diagnosis, but do have pain recorded, list it on your claim.
 
 
#2: Your Supporting Materials
 
The other day, I was contacted by a service member who was preparing to submit his VA Disability Claim, and he was wondering if there was a preferred way of organizing his medical records, like by condition or chronologically. Now the majority of veterans have probably never thought a thought like this. As long as they have my records, who cares? But I say kudos to this service member! I predict that this man’s VA Disability Process is going to go very smoothly. Why? Because not only is he trying to be prepared and submit a good claim, he is going above and beyond and ultimately showing RESPECT.
 
The Rating Authorities who review the claims and make the rating decisions are very powerful people with the ability to make a big difference in your future. While they are required to follow the laws in place, there are many instances where they do have to make judgement calls. While personal feelings are never supposed to have any sway in their decisions, I don’t think any of you would argue that a person wanting to get you the best they can because they like you could in any way be bad, right?
 
So how do you make friends with someone you can’t see or talk to? Showing them respect by submitting a superb claim that is organized to make their job as easy and quick as possible is a great start. Coming across a claim like this when I worked for the PDBR would definitely have put me in the right mood…
 
So, after listing your diagnosed conditions clearly and succinctly, organizing your supporting material in an easily accessible fashion will entitle your claim to a smiley sticker.
 
There is no ultimately right or wrong way to organize your materials, but here are my recommendations based on my experiences sorting through thousands of medical records for the PDBR. This is what I would have liked to see and what I would do if I were submitting my own claim.
 
1. Only include medical records that are for the conditions that you are listing on your claim. The VA asks you to submit your entire military medical record to make sure that you don’t miss submitting essential information that will then cause the process to stop while they scramble to get the right info. In reality, however, an entire medical record can consists of THOUSANDS of pages, many of which probably have nothing to do with your claim.
 
For example, if you are claiming a stomach ulcer, don’t include all your dental records. Your Rating Authority does NOT want to have to go through each of your dental records to find the pages that actually matter for your stomach ulcer. Do include everything you have on your stomach, but leave out anything that has no relation at all.
 
If you are in doubt about whether or not a record is relevant, then definitely include it. It isn’t worth leaving out something that could end up being really important. Just get rid of the things are clearly unrelated, and you will have a much happier Rating Authority.
 
2. Organize your medical records chronologically by condition. Sort through all your documents and put them in piles for each of the conditions that you are claiming. Then organize each pile in chronological order. If submitting a paper claim, paper clip all the records for each condition together and label the pile for the condition. Then put the piles in the order you listed the conditions on the claim. If submitting an electronic claim, try organizing the files in a similar fashion. Make sure to name each file so that it is clear without having to open it what the file contains. This will make it super easy for the Rating Authority to find all the evidence needed for each condition, and they will be very happy.
 
 
That’s it. With clearly listed diagnosed conditions and easily accessible medical records, the Rating Authority’s job will be much easier and proceed much more quickly, thus making your VA Disability Claim the best it can be.

49 Comments

  • Sir,
    First, thank you for the work you do and the guidance and support you provide Veterans through your website and blog. I have one question for you regarding diagnostic exams such as X-rays, MRI's, CT scans, ultrasounds, etc. My question is: How important is it to have the actual images put on CD for evidence to support my VA Claim along with all of the conditions being claimed? For example, I have the paper report, which has the results of the X-rays and MRI's, but will that weigh enough to the raters who are looking for evidence to substantiate my condition? I have an X-ray paper report which states I have severe degenerative disk disease between C5-C6 of my back that I picked up from radiology, but I don't know if it will be enough to substantiate my condition? Is it worth getting this X-ray image put on a CD to send to the VA with my claim, or will the paper copy with the X-ray results be enough?

    Thank You sir

  • Hi Eric –

    This is a really good question. Honestly, when I did ratings for the PDBR, I never once looked at a disc of images. I never even received one. I can't really imagine a rater ever actually taking a look at the images to see if the report is correct. Pretty much everything they do will be based on the report. If you feel that the report doesn't properly define your condition, then you might want to include the disc and refer them to it, but if the report properly diagnoses your condition, then I can't imagine they would bother to look at the images. They (most likely) aren't trained radiologists, so they will probably just trust the radiologist's report.

    That being said, it is always a good idea to keep a copy of your images for yourself. Future docs who treat your condition would rather have the actual images than the report.

    So, ultimately, I recommend definitely getting a disc for yourself, but I don't really think it's necessary to include them in your disability claim.

  • Hi Sir,
    I'm currently in the process of asking for an increase in my disability rating for plantar fasciitis. I'm trying to complete a fully developed claim via ebenefits, but the application had DBQs that needed to be filled out. I took them to my podiatrist (who's located at the VA) today to fill out and he sent me downstairs to schedule a C&P exam instead. I called the VA call center to explain what happened today and she assured me that I can still submit my claim without the DBQs and it will still be considered an FDC…even if I'm scheduled for a C&P exam later on. Is she correct? Thank you in advance for your help.

    Sincerely,
    LaKeitha

  • Hi LaKeitha –

    Yes, as long as your C&P Exam is scheduled and in the VA's system before you submit your claim, you should be fine. It must be scheduled for the claim to be a FDC, so that's why I normally say that the C&P Exam should come first. Since yours is scheduled, you should be good to go. The results of the exam should automatically go straight into your claim file.

  • -I was pretty disappointed today when I went to file my VA Claim 6 months prior to leaving the military after 27 years. I met with the VSO in my area, and I e-mailed my claim 24 hours in advance, so he could review it prior to our appointment, and he told me that he would not submit my claim the way it was typed up by me because I should not have listed diagnosed conditions and that the VA would tell me what is wrong with me when I am called for my VA medical appointments. For example, I had plantar faciitis, Pes Cavus feet, heel spurs, Haglund’s deformity. He took that off of my claim and put “feet-B/L”
    -I have severe degenerative disks in my lumbar and thoracic region of my back, and a bulging disk, which are verified by x-rays in my medical record. He took all 3 of these conditions off of my claim and put “back” in the block on the VA claim form.
    -I have osteoarthritis in my knees and I have chondromalacia patella. He took these terms off of my VA claim form and put “knees-B/L”.
    -I have 3 urinary conditions listed separately: hesitancy, smaller stream, and urinary frequency. He listed all as “urinary condition”.
    -I have BPH diagnosed. He put “prostate” on my claim form.
    -I have a deformed 4th digit from an accident on my left hand, which also resulted in a range in motion loss and a tendon repair surgery on my 2nd digit, left hand, 1 ¾ inch scar that goes across my 2nd digit and L-hand. He changed all of the above, which I had listed separately on my VA claim and put “Left Hand” on my claim form. He said the VA will tell me what is wrong with me when they start calling me to their medical facility and that I was being too specific and that if he filed my claim like I had it, it would take years to adjudicate. He also said that the examples above are how “he was trained” to submit claims.
    I could go on with a lot more examples, but I think you get the point. My question is: what recourse do I have now that the claim has been filed?
    Do I just wait until my determination comes back and file a different claim again, or do I just explain to the VA what my actual conditions are once I get there for my 4-5 VA medical appointments that my VSO thinks I will have prior to my retirement date?
    I think it’s pretty sad when the person submitting the claim knows more than the paid person there to help you submit your claim.

    Any advice you can give would be appreciated.

  • Sorry to hear about this, but I'm glad you brought up these issues. There are so many factors involved that it's impossible to discuss every aspect in a single blog, so this is opening up some great topics for discussion.

    Yes, it seems like your VSO is one of those that supports the idea of listing "vague" conditions.

    The reason I don't support listing vague conditions is because I've seen cases where a veteran lists "right foot" and he is given a single rating for a right foot condition. In reality, however, his right foot has two separate ratable conditions. He should have been given two ratings, but the Rating Authority justified just one. Should the Rating Authority have given him both? Yes. Did the Rating Authority make a mistake? Yes. Most likely he could get this corrected with an appeal, but that's more headache, more paperwork, and more time. Had he listed his two ratable conditions separately on the claim, the Rating Authority would not have been able to make this mistake so easily and so justifiably. It most likely would have been done right the first time.

    That being said, is it the end of the world to list a vague condition? No. It just leaves greater room for error. It's much more likely for the VA to miss conditions or ratable symptoms when they are not clearly listed on the claim.

    Now your VSO does have a good point in that the VA will put a lot of consideration on the results of the VA medical exams. If you have a solid diagnosis, however, it would be very odd to suddenly have your VA physician make a completely different diagnosis. It is possible, yes, but not likely unless your condition has not yet be firmly diagnosed or there is a lot of uncertainty over the diagnosis. In certain circumstances when there is a lot of uncertainty, then it might be best to list your condition more vaguely. This would allow for more flexibility if the VA physician diagnoses something differently. Again, however, this would be rare and does open up other avenues for error.

    Now, would it be a problem if the VA physician diagnoses something different than what you have on your claim? Yes, actually, it would be. The problem, however, isn't really that the diagnosis is different than what is on the claim, but that it is different than what is recorded in your military medical records. For the VA to rate a condition, it must be service-connected, mostly meaning that it must be in your service medical records (there are other ways to be service-connected, but this is the most pertinent for this discussion). If your VA physician diagnoses something different than what is in your military records, the VA will most likely decide that it is not service-connected and thus does not qualify for VA Disability. The real issue here is not what is on the claim. The real issue is that you need to do all you can to make sure that the VA physician agrees with your military diagnoses in order for them to be eligible for VA Disability. This is where it is vital to go to your VA exams prepared and knowledgable about your conditions, service-connection, and how your conditions are rated. If the VA physician makes a different diagnosis, then you will be screwed no matter what you put on the claim. It won't matter.

    This is why I support the idea of listing diagnosed conditions. Your military diagnoses are the most important (they equal service-connection), and so are the ones that should be on the claim and then subsequently diagnosed by the VA physician. You aren't protecting yourself by being vague and waiting for the VA physician's diagnosis. If he doesn't agree with your military diagnosis, the Rating Authorities will have trouble determining your case no matter what is on the claim.

  • They have a word limit, so I had to break my reply up into two posts.

    As for your VSO's statement that it will take years to adjudicate such a specific claim: not true. If you have a diagnosed condition listed on your claim, they look at your military records and clearly see it, they look at your VA exam and clearly see it, then their job will actually be faster. They won't have to sift through everything trying to figure out what they heck your "stomach condition" is. You said "hiatal hernia" – they see "hiatal hernia" – done. It sure made my life easier in the PDBR.

    So this discussion is great and all, but what do you do now? Don't stress too much over the fact that your VSO vague-ified your claim since it has already been submitted. Hopefully your Rating Authority will be a good one that will be able to carefully separate out each of your ratable conditions and everything will be fine. What is absolutely vital now is that you prepare properly for your VA exams. Make sure that you go in with the knowledge necessary to get the VA physician to agree with the diagnoses of all your conditions. You already had each diagnosed condition listed on the claim, so approach your VA exams with the goal of obtaining the same diagnoses. As long as the VA physicians agree with your military diagnoses, you're claim should hopefully process fine.

    That's all you can do at this stage. If after your claim is adjudicated, you find that they didn't properly rate everything, then you can either submit a new claim for the conditions they missed or appeal if they made any errors.

  • Sir,

    I appreciate all of your time and the information you provided above. I just received a letter in the mail from my VSO stating that he would "no longer represent me" because I sent additional conditions to be a part of my claim. He also stated that "he has notified the DVA that they will no longer be representing me with my claim". I did a VA-Form 21-4138 and listed conditions he left off of my claim. I asked him not to submit my claim because I was not satisfied with the way he filled it out, but he told me that it had already been submitted. I have 2 questions for you: 1) Since my VSO will no longer represent me, and they have notified the DVA, does this put me at a disadvantage? (2) Also, the Veteran Service Organization's decision not to represent me, will this cause my claim to sit idle, disappear, or go into a holding pattern? Finally, do you recommend trying to find a different VSO?
    Thank You

  • Ultimately, having a VSO is not essential. Vets submit claims all the time on their own without any problems. Having your VSO ditch you like this should not hinder your claim at all. Now that the VA is aware that he no longer represents you, they simply cannot share any of your claim information with him. The VSO had to inform them legally so that your information is kept private. There should not be any kind of delay to your claim at all.

    As for whether or not to get another one, that is entirely up to you. VSO's are there for guidance – they serve no other purpose. Many VSO's were threatened when they first found out about our site, assuming that we were trying to replace them by making public the information and guidance that they are supposed to be giving their veterans. Our goal is definitely not to replace them, but assist them by giving them another tool to use to help their vets. I believe that VSOs do great work many times and can be a great guidance tool. They are not, however, essential to your disability. The VA doesn't care whether or not you work with a VSO. They are just available if you want their help. Ultimately, it's up to you.

  • I am submitting a FDC for back, neck, and shoulder pain and PTSD. Other than shoulder surgery, I have not been treated for the PTSD. Should I see a doctor for this prior to submitting the claim, or just wait to see if the VA requires an exam? I am in the Philippines and seeing a doctor is not easy.

  • How do you document "prostrating" condition due to migraines? I currently average over 15-16 migraine headache days per month. My neurologist suggested I perform my own IM injections as a convenience to avoid frequent and long wait times in the ER. I see in your website that to be considered 50% disabled for migraines that you have to be prostrating 2-3 time per week. I keep a headache journal that my neurologist validates each month. Would that suffice?

  • You don't technically have to see a doc before you submit a claim for PTSD, however, if it is not officially diagnosed by a psychologist, your claim will be denied. It would be better to go ahead and see a psychologist for this first and have it diagnosed before applying.

  • The headache journal should be enough as long as it is included in your official medical records or reports from the neurologist. Basically, the headaches just have to be well-documented in your medical records in order for them to be used for rating purposes.

  • Hello. Where is a list of diagnosed conditions in my VA medical records? I see a problem list but what is actually diagnosed? I have private MRI results which show results. Is that a diagnosis it itself?

  • Yes, MRI results are usually considered diagnoses as long as they are conclusive. There isn't really a list of all diagnosed conditions; just medical records with diagnoses. So every time you went to your doctor, in his report, there should be a section that says Diagnosis. Anything in this category on any medical record is considered an official diagnosis.

  • Hi sir,
    I have a quesrion. I am a vet with asthma. I have been denied twice for migraines as secondary to the asthma due to medication. I have daily prostrating migraines sometimes lasting a few days to weeks. Can you give me some advice on how to appeal decision? Thank you

  • Hi Natasha –

    Unfortunately, there is very little definitive evidence that asthma medications cause migraines. While some scientists have been doing studies that show loose connections between asthma and migraines, the majority of these indicate that treatment of asthma will decrease migraines, not increase or cause them. Because of this, there simply isn't the medical evidence needed to prove that your migraines are in fact caused by your asthma. Without this evidence, your claim is unlikely to succeed.

  • I plan to upload my BDD FDC claim to Ebenefits. How would you upload your full claim. In one large file, or by individual claim? Is there a place in Ebenefits to select BDD/FDC and is there a maximum number of individual claims I can make in Ebenefits for a BDD/FDC? Do I also, upload all of my family information such as birthday certificates and marriage license in the same place? Do I upload a scanned​ copy of the 21-526ez, or is everything digitally filled out in Ebenefits? Thanks for your time.

  • There isn't a maximum number of claims, but you don't want to submit multiple claims at the same time if you can at all avoid it. It will confuse the system and slow the process down.

    The best thing to do is to submit a single claim that includes all of your conditions. Submit for everything, just do it on a single claim. They'll guide you to fill it all in digitally.

    As for family info, when you apply for Dependents, they'll ask for the proof they need and you can upload it directly.

  • Thanks. I do plan on adding all of my conditions to my initial claim. I've been unable to find highly detailed step-by-step instructions that cover the digital claim process in eBenefits. There are some videos on ebenefits, but they don't show a section where the individual claimed conditions are entered. How would I find the information I am looking for? I also, didn't see a section where BDD claim is entered. I appreciate your assistance very much.

  • I don't think there is thorough instructions on that, but you can start and save an unfinished claim at any time. The best option is just to start your claim to figure out how it works. As you go through it, they'll prompt you to input all of your conditions.

    The claim either becomes an FDC or BDD based on the information you put on your claim, like the fact that you are applying before discharge. It is all through the same system.

  • Thanks. Should I claim secondary conditions for Crohn's Disease when I file my BDD claim, even though Crohn's isn't officially service connect yet? Also, I did find some detailed instructions, but it appears that all of my dependent information is uploaded separately from my claim. Is that an accurate assumption and should I upload my claims evidence one claim at a time?

  • Hello Dr. Johnson,

    I am a 32 year old Infantry veteran with multiple tours to Iraq & Kuwait. As many before have probably felt and/or experience, just the thought of filing a claim exhausts me mainly because I do not have the experience and/or time to devote to it. However, I would slowly like to explore what conditions I would like to submit to the VA. I am currently 50% rated for PTSD and my question to you is, could I submit a claim for sleep apnea if it was caused by the PTSD symptoms (overweight)?

    Regretfully, I never had a sleep study done while in service but I did have a sleep study done at the VA after I was discharged whereby the VA diagnosed me with sleep apnea and prescribed a CPAP machine.

    Thank you Dr,

    Jorge

  • Hi Jorge –

    I'm unfortunately not going to be able to give you a definitive answer since there are a lot of factors involved. Weight gain is not a ratable symptom of PTSD, so although it could logically be related the VA may consider it not enough of a link to automatically consider your sleep apnea as service-connected. That being said, they may look at all the evidence, and agree that it is enough. If they do make this determination, then they will rate and compensate your sleep apnea.

    So ultimately, my best advice is to definitely submit for it. It can't hurt, and they may approve and compensate it.

  • Dr. Johnson,

    As you probably know the VA has changed how they allow PTSD to be filed. The VA has me diagnosed with "Stress and Adjustment Reaction" but, a civilian psychologist diagnosed me with PTSD and completed the review DBQ.

    If I claim PTSD will I be denied because the VA hasn't diagnosed me with it? Or am I OK to claim it since I do have a diagnosis?

    Or should I file for what the VA diagnosed me with? And if that's the case how do I file for "Stress and Adjustment Reaction"?

  • The VA's rules for diagnosing PTSD are more strict than the civilian sector. So regardless of your civilian diagnosis, the VA will have to agree that you meet their requirements for PTSD to be considered. So, yes, it is quite possible that a claim for PTSD will be denied.

    The VA's diagnostic criteria:

    http://www.militarydisabilitymadeeasy.com/ptsd.html

    Now, if your condition does meet all of these criteria, then your VA examiner may also diagnose you with PTSD when you go in for your exam. In which case, your claim will be fine. If you don't, then it is always better to just file for the condition they've diagnosed.

    Ultimately, regardless of the diagnosis, all mental health conditions are rated the exact same. So regardless of what your condition is called, you will receive the same rating based on all of your symptoms. Thus, it might be safer to just submit for "stress and adjustment reaction" if there is any doubt that you'll meet the VA's requirements for PTSD.

  • Dr. Johnson,

    I am very close to submitting my FDC through eBenefits and have put forth a lot of effort to organize it. However, after reading this blog I am inclined to take your advice even though it appears eBenefits wants me to categorize my electronic file submission under the categories of:

    Service Record
    Civilian Provider
    Buddy/Lay Statement
    Etc…

    So I am wondering if it would still be best for me to organize by condition, as you suggested, but to combine military and post-military (civilian) records into one file under the condition (and chronologically of course). Please let me know if it matters if I separate the military records from the after separation records.

    Thank you for all of your advice! This site has been a tremendous help!!

  • I'm sorry one more thing–if I have multiple diagnosed conditions that all pertain to one Doctor's specialty (like OBGYN or Rheumatologist) is it acceptable to group those together into "one file" so to speak so that I don't have duplicate files for the same physician to go through for a different but related condition? For example, fibromyalgia and Raynaud's I would put together. Or endometriosis and other vaginal conditions would be prepared in one section as opposed to multiples.

    Thanks again

  • I am a 24 year Veteran. I retired in 2007 and my claims still have not been approved. I did most of my time in the Air Fore reserves. When we would go to the hospital, we would be on orders. So we did not receive an LOD letter if we were on orders. The VA is telling me that the things I am claiming is not service connected. I have sent in a copy of orders for every time I went to the hospital. I know I will have to wait for an invitation for RAMP. But How can I prove to the VA that the things I am claim are service connected.

  • Definitely do not submit duplicate files. That will just annoy the adjudicator to have more paperwork to go through. Ultimately, the organization is just to assist them as much as possible, but they are smart enough to find the right documents when needed or to recognize that a single file relates to multiple conditions. Making their job easier always means less paperwork.

  • Is highlighting the copy of medical records that is scanned into eBenefits a No-No? I can see how it could be annoying, or helpful. Just preference?

    Also, could typing a patient statement/narrative for each condition being claimed cause a FDC to become a standard claim due to sheer volume of my claim?

    Is it pointless to include injury/events in the narrative that occurred during military service if it is NOT documented in service records, but is supportive of something that is documented? I'm having difficulty determining what information is necessary and what info is excessive (potentially cumbersome).

    Thank you

  • The highlighting could be annoying for some. They are familiar with reading medical records and don't really need you to show them how.

    If they make an error, however, and you have to appeal, highlighting the material at that time could be helpful.

    As long as you submit all the evidence at once, an FDC is an FDC.

    Be careful about submitting too much. A patient narrative is the absolute most unimportant document they will be reviewing, so only include it if it is providing information that is essential to service-connection that cannot be found in any other way. If there is clear evidence that allows the condition to be service-connected, then additional talk about it just wastes their time.

    So, if there is enough evidence to show service-connection (just the presence of the condition in your medical record during service is often enough), then adding more info isn't necessary. More is needed if you're a Reservist, however, because you also have to prove that it occurred while on duty, so a narrative may be more important in this case.

    Again, however, the narrative is the most unofficial of all your evidence, so if something vital to your case is only found in the narrative, it still may not be enough. If it is elsewhere, then the narrative probably isn't needed.

    Anything about the severity of your condition should be in your medical records. If it isn't, go back to your doc and get it in your records. Those are far more powerful than a narrative.

  • These are all tricky conditions as they aren't usually the result of a single incident, but develop over time. The easiest conditions for Reservists to claim are things like a broken ankle that occurred while on active duty training, etc. Even having them in your medical records isn't necessarily enough.

    In order for them to grant service-connection, you have to show that each condition developed as a direct result of military service and could not have been the result of the times when you were not active duty.

    So, for example, TMJ usually develops overtime from clenching or grinding your teeth. If you could show that you were on active duty for 2 years straight and that you first started having pain in your jaw after the first year (giving it a year to develop), then the VA would probably recognize this as a service-connected condition. If you didn't have that solid chunk of active duty time, however, it'll be much more difficult since it would have been developing while off duty as well, and so not technically related. A possible option then would be to show that your active duty service (and no other cause) caused mental stress that resulted in the clenching/grinding that eventually caused the TMJ. Again, the timing of active duty service and the development of the condition will be significant.

    The reality is you may not be successful on some of these, depending on your specifics of service. None of these can be directly connected to a single incident that occurred on duty, and so you'll have to demonstrate that the amount of time you spent on active duty was the contributing factor to the development of these conditions.

  • If the section on the DBQ form that asks

    Does the Veteran's Condition(s) impact his/her ability to work?…. Is checked No,

    does that automatically grounds for denial of the claim?

  • Hello, thank you for this great forum and for taking time to educate all of us. I have a question regarding your comment above:

    "Ultimately, regardless of the diagnosis, all mental health conditions are rated the exact same. So regardless of what your condition is called, you will receive the same rating based on all of your symptoms. Thus, it might be safer to just submit for "stress and adjustment reaction" if there is any doubt that you'll meet the VA's requirements for PTSD."

    So if I'm diagnosed with PTSD, Anxiety Disorder, and Depression, is it best to only file for one of these diagnoses?

    All are well documented in my medical records and I take meds for each, i.e. Setraline for PTSD, Prazosin for PTSD related nightmares, Wellbutrin for depression.

    Thanks in advance for the advice!

  • No, since they are all officially diagnosed conditions, go ahead and put all three on your claim. Always list all officially diagnosed conditions. Just know that they will combine them all and give you a single mental health rating in the end.

  • I am service connected for 30% Asthma for 19 years. I was diagnosed with Lupus 8 years after discharge. My service medical records are filled with symptoms of Lupus prior to discharge. My doctor believes the asthma was an unrecognized lupus flare-up as it was not responsive to asthma inhalers and was why I was ultimately discharged. If the doctor list this in my history as a service connection will I effect my asthma rating?

    Thank you for your work.

  • Your asthma rating won't be affected since it was diagnosed in service and is already considered service-connected. It is very difficult, however, to prove that an underlying condition was present but undiagnosed in service. It is very rare that these types of claims are successful. However, an attempt still should not harm your asthma rating since there is definite proof that it was diagnosed in service.

  • Super helpful article/recommendations!

    I’m close to filing my BDD claims and I have a question regarding record organization. Since the DoD transitioned to everything electronic, the majority of my medical records I received are already somewhat organized. Basically, I have a pdf that has scanned copies of all my handwritten medical records (not searchable). I also have a pdf that has everything from AHLTA, the electronic medical system the DoD utilizes. This fully searchable file is organized/bookmarked by diagnosis, procedures, radiology, labs, meds, clinical notes, essentially everything. With those records specifically, not the scanned copies, curious to hear what your recommendations are for organizing those or if it is a moot point? Thanks again!

  • If it is already organized with bookmarks, you can just leave as is. We are used to seeing these now, so your rater should be able to find everything they need.

    For the one that is not searchable or organized, you may want to consider locating the records that hold the most vital information for your conditions and then creating a separate document as a sort of table of contents that gives the page numbers for the important records. Not every page necessarily will need to be included, but helping them find the most important things will definitely save them time and ensure they don't miss anything.

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