VA Terms Glossary
Comprehensive Glossary for "Battle-Tested Benefits & Insider Secrets" Book
A
Agent Orange: A tactical herbicide used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. Exposure is presumed for veterans who served in Vietnam and certain other locations, creating presumptive service connection for specific conditions.
Appeal: A formal request to review a VA decision with which the veteran disagrees.
Appeals Modernization Act (AMA): Legislation implemented in 2019 that created new options for appealing VA decisions, replacing the legacy appeals system.
Asymptomatic: Without symptoms. Some conditions may be rated even when asymptomatic.
B
Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD): A program allowing service members to file disability claims 90-180 days before separation from active duty.
Bilateral Factor: An additional percentage added when disabilities affect both arms, both legs, or paired skeletal muscles.
Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA): The body that conducts hearings and makes decisions on appeals of VA regional office decisions.
Buddy Statement: A written statement from someone who served with the veteran that can help establish the occurrence of an in-service event or the severity of a condition.
C
C&P Exam: Compensation and Pension examination, a medical examination requested by the VA to help determine if a disability is service-connected and/or to evaluate its severity.
CFR: Code of Federal Regulations, the official compilation of federal regulations, including VA regulations in Title 38.
Character of Discharge: The type of discharge from military service (honorable, general, other than honorable, etc.) which affects eligibility for VA benefits.
Claim: A formal request for VA benefits.
Combined Ratings Table: The table used by the VA to combine multiple disability ratings, found in 38 CFR ยง 4.25.
Compensation: Monthly payment to veterans for service-connected disabilities.
Competent Evidence: Evidence provided by a person who has the knowledge, training, or experience to make the statement.
Continuous Service: Service without a break, which can be important for establishing presumptive service connection.
Credible Evidence: Evidence that is believable and consistent with other evidence of record.
D
DBQ: Disability Benefits Questionnaire, a form used by healthcare providers to capture medical information relevant to a veteran's disability claim.
Decision Review Officer (DRO): A senior VA claims processor who can review appealed decisions.
Deferred Decision: When the VA postpones making a decision on one claimed condition while deciding others.
Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC): Benefits paid to eligible survivors of veterans who died from service-connected conditions.
Diagnostic Code: The numerical code in the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities that identifies specific disabilities and their rating criteria.
Direct Service Connection: When a current disability is directly linked to an in-service event, injury, or disease.
Disability Rating: The percentage assigned to a service-connected condition, reflecting its severity according to VA standards.
E
Effective Date: The date from which benefits are payable, usually the date of claim or the date entitlement arose, whichever is later.
Evaluation: Another term for disability rating percentage.
Evidence: Information submitted to support a claim, including medical records, lay statements, and military records.
Examination: A medical evaluation to assess the nature and severity of a claimed condition.
Extra-Schedular Rating: A rating assigned outside the regular rating schedule when the schedule is inadequate to compensate for the true severity of the disability.
F
Fully Developed Claim (FDC): A VA program that can provide faster decisions by having the veteran submit all evidence with the initial claim.
G
Gulf War Syndrome: A cluster of medically unexplained chronic symptoms that can be presumptively service-connected for veterans who served in the Southwest Asia theater of operations.
H
Higher-Level Review: An AMA appeal option requesting review by a more experienced VA employee.
Hospitalization: Inpatient treatment that may qualify for temporary 100% ratings.
I
Incapacitating Episodes: Periods of acute symptoms requiring bed rest and treatment by a physician, used in rating certain conditions.
Individual Unemployability (TDIU): A benefit that pays at the 100% rate when service-connected disabilities prevent a veteran from maintaining substantially gainful employment.
Intent to File: A preliminary form that establishes an effective date while giving the veteran up to one year to complete a full claim.
Interim Rating: A temporary rating assigned while waiting for additional evidence.
L
Lay Evidence: Statements from non-experts, including the veteran, family members, friends, or coworkers.
Legacy Appeals System: The appeals system in place before the implementation of the AMA.
M
Manifestation: The appearance of symptoms of a disability.
Material Evidence: Evidence that relates to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate a claim.
METs: Metabolic equivalents, a measurement used in rating cardiovascular conditions.
Military Sexual Trauma (MST): Physical or psychological trauma resulting from sexual assault or harassment during military service.
N
New and Relevant Evidence: Evidence not previously submitted that relates to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate a claim under the AMA.
New and Material Evidence: Evidence not previously submitted that relates to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate a claim under the legacy appeals system.
Non-Service-Connected Pension: Financial support for wartime veterans with limited income who are permanently and totally disabled from non-service-connected causes.
O
Obesity: Not a disability for VA purposes but can be an intermediate step in secondary service connection.
P
PACT Act: The Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022, which expanded VA healthcare and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxic substances.
Permanent and Total (P&T): A designation indicating that a service-connected disability is both permanent and rated at 100%, or that the veteran is permanently unemployable.
Presumptive Service Connection: When the VA presumes that certain disabilities are related to military service based on specific circumstances, such as exposure to Agent Orange or service during specific time periods and locations.
Protected Rating: A disability rating that cannot be reduced due to its duration or other factors.
Pyramiding: The prohibited practice of evaluating the same disability under different diagnostic codes.
Q
Qualified Medical Opinion: A medical opinion from a healthcare provider with appropriate expertise to address the medical issue in question.
R
Rating Decision: The formal decision document issued by the VA regarding a claim.
Rating Schedule: The VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities, which assigns percentage evaluations based on the average impairment in earning capacity.
Reasonable Doubt: When the evidence for and against a claim is approximately balanced, the benefit of the doubt is given to the veteran.
Reconsideration: A request to review a Board of Veterans' Appeals decision based on specific criteria.
Regional Office: A local VA office that processes claims and provides services to veterans.
Remand: When a higher authority returns a case to a lower authority for additional action.
S
Secondary Service Connection: When a service-connected condition causes or aggravates another condition.
Service Connection: The determination that a disability is related to military service.
Special Monthly Compensation (SMC): Additional compensation for veterans with specific severe disabilities or combinations of disabilities.
Staged Ratings: Different ratings assigned for different time periods based on changes in the severity of a condition.
Substantially Gainful Employment: Employment that provides an annual income exceeding the poverty threshold for one person.
Supplemental Claim: An AMA appeal option that allows submission of new and relevant evidence.
T
Temporary Total Disability Rating: A 100% rating assigned temporarily for hospitalization or convalescence.
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): A brain injury caused by external force, rated based on cognitive, emotional/behavioral, and physical symptoms.
U
Unemployability: The inability to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation due to service-connected disabilities.
V
VA Form 21-526EZ: Application for Disability Compensation and Related Compensation Benefits.
VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD): The regulatory framework used to evaluate disabilities, found in 38 CFR Part 4.
Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E): A program to help veterans with service-connected disabilities prepare for and find suitable employment.
W
Well-Grounded Claim: A term no longer used by the VA, replaced by the requirement that claims have at least a minimal factual basis.