What is a Presumptive Service Connection? 

VA presumes that certain disabilities were caused by military service. This is because of the unique circumstances of a specific Veteran’s military service. If a presumed condition is diagnosed in a Veteran within a certain group, they can be awarded disability compensation. 

The VA states there are over 900 possible ratable disabling conditions. This is a very short list in comparison so please; ensure you get a diagnosis prior to discharge!

CONDITIONS THAT APPEAR WITHIN ONE YEAR POST DISCHARGE

(Title 38, Code of Federal Regulation, 3.09(a)):

If your symptoms appear within one year after discharge - even if they weren’t there while you were serving—and the condition is at least 10% disabling the VBA will conclude that they’re related to your service

• Anemia, primary.

• Arteriosclerosis.

• Arthritis.

• Atrophy, Progressive muscular.

• Brain hemorrhage.

• Brain thrombosis.

• Bronchiectasis.

• Calculi of the kidney, bladder, or gallbladder (stones).

• Cardiovascular-renal disease, including hypertension. (This term applies to combination involvement of the type of arteriosclerosis, nephritis, and organic heart disease, and since hypertension is an early symptom long preceding the development of those diseases in their more obvious forms, a disabling hypertension within the 1-year period will be given the same benefit of service connection as any of the chronic diseases listed.)

• Cirrhosis of the liver.

• Coccidioidomycosis

• Diabetes mellitus.

• Encephalitis lethargica residuals.

• Endocarditis. (This term covers all forms of valvular heart disease.)

• Endocrinopathies.

• Epilepsies.

• Hansen’s disease.

• Hodgkin’s disease. 

• Leukemia.

• Lupus erythematosus, systemic.

• Myasthenia gravis. 

• Myelitis.

• Myocarditis.

• Nephritis.

• Other organic diseases of the nervous system (carpal tunnel syndrome, migraine headaches,

sensorineural hearing loss, tinnitus, glaucoma, progressive spinal muscular atrophy, diseases of the cranial nervous system, cranial nerve conditions, and peripheral nerve conditions, such as peripheral neuropathy)

• Osteitis deformans (Paget’s disease).

• Osteomalacia.

• Palsy, bulbar.

• Paralysis agitans. 

• Psychoses. (brief psychotic disorder, delusional disorder, psychotic disorder due to another medical condition, other specified schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorder, schizoaffective disorder, schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder, and substance/medication-induced psychotic disorder.)

• Purpura idiopathic, hemorrhagic.

• Raynaud’s disease.

• Sarcoidosis.

• Scleroderma.

• Sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral.

• Sclerosis, multiple.

• Syringomyelia.

• Thromboangiitis obliterans (Buerger’s disease).

• Tuberculosis, active.

• Tumors, malignant, or of the brain or spinal cord or peripheral nerves.

• Ulcers, peptic (gastric or duodenal) (A proper diagnosis of gastric or duodenal ulcer (peptic ulcer) is to be considered established if it represents a medically sound interpretation of sufficient clinical findings warranting such diagnosis and provides an adequate basis for a differential diagnosis from other conditions with like symptomatology; in short, where the preponderance of evidence indicates gastric or duodenal ulcer (peptic ulcer). Whenever possible, of course, laboratory findings should be used in corroboration of the clinical data.

The following diseases are presumed service connected, even if they appear more than one year after you separated from service:

• Hansen’s disease (a long-lasting infection that affects your skin, nerves, and mucous membranes) can appear within 3 years after discharge.

• Tuberculosis (an infection that attacks your lungs and sometimes other areas of your body) can appear within 3 years after discharge.

• Multiple sclerosis (a long-lasting illness that can cause numbness, weakness, and many other symptoms) can appear within 7 years after discharge.

• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease (a long-lasting illness that affects muscle control), can appear any time after discharge with 90 consecutive days of active duty service.