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Education
These pages describe categories VA publishes. They do not review your file, estimate a rating, or tell you what to file.
Human in command
The sequence below is how a claim actually moves. This website only covers the educational analysis and a checklist of evidence categories. It does not judge the file and it does not submit anything.
01
The person whose service and records are at issue. This website does not act for them.
02
Plain-language categories from public VA material. Not a decision and not a score.
03
What is present and what is commonly still missing. Records stay with the veteran.
04
An accredited representative, a clinician, or a VA adjudicator. Not this website.
05
Done by the veteran or an accredited representative, outside this website.
VA claim files commonly include service records, medical records, exam reports, and statements. Which of those matter depends on the condition and the theory of service connection. A complete-looking stack can still miss the one category the public criteria actually use, such as a measurement or a medical opinion.
Service treatment records are the notes made while someone was in uniform: sick call, hospitals, hearing conservation, and separation exams. They are useful when they show a condition, an injury, or a complaint during service. They often do not mention later diagnoses. Absence from those records is not, by itself, proof that a condition is unrelated to service.
A buddy statement is a lay statement from someone who saw events or symptoms. It can help with what a person observed: noise, a fall, sleep, or changes in behavior. It cannot diagnose, measure range of motion, or supply a medical opinion. The writer should describe what they saw, not what rating they think applies.
Care from a private doctor, a community hospital, or a non-VA clinic can document a current diagnosis and treatment. Those records do not automatically reach VA. Someone has to identify the provider, the dates, and the authorization if VA is asked to request them. This website does not request records.
A nexus opinion is a clinician's reasoned statement that a current condition is at least as likely as not related to service, or to a condition already service-connected. The useful part is the reasoning tied to the facts of that veteran. A form letter that does not discuss those facts is a weak document. This website does not write nexus letters.
A Disability Benefits Questionnaire is a public VA form that asks a clinician for the facts an evaluation often uses, such as measurements or frequency. Filling one out is not a rating and not a decision. VA also orders its own exams. This website does not complete DBQs and does not tell a clinician what to enter.
The PACT Act is a public law that expanded VA recognition of toxic exposures, including burn pits and other airborne hazards, and added conditions and locations to VA's public guidance. A place or condition on a public list is not a finding that a particular veteran qualifies. Service dates, locations, and a current diagnosis still have to be shown. This website does not decide eligibility.
The gaps that show up most often in public guidance are simple: a diagnosis with no service link, imaging with no measurements, a device with no sleep study, a presumption theory with no location and dates, and a secondary theory with no medical opinion. Naming a gap is not a prediction of the outcome if the gap is filled.
Before a veteran talks to an accredited representative, it helps to gather the DD-214, a list of providers and dates, and the records already in hand. Do not send this website those documents. Do not include a Social Security number or a VA file number in a note. Organize by condition. A person still decides what to file and where.
Public VA practice commonly discusses three theories. Direct means the condition began in or was caused by service. Secondary means a condition already service-connected caused or aggravated a later condition. Presumptive means public law or regulation lists places, dates, or exposures associated with certain conditions. A listing is not a decision that a particular veteran qualifies. This website does not choose a theory.
Public rating language for many musculoskeletal conditions is written in degrees of motion, not in pain descriptions. Imaging can support a diagnosis. Measurements of how far a joint moves typically answer the public evaluation questions. A pain report alone does not replace those measurements.
Before meeting an accredited representative, it helps to group records by the condition being discussed: diagnosis, service records, treatment notes, and any measurements or opinions already in hand. Do not send those documents to this website. A person still decides what to file.
No usage totals are shown. This site does not have a public, trustworthy count of assessments or page views that would be honest to publish.
