Presumptive Disability Benefits

Agent Orange exposure and VA disability compensation

Agent Orange was a tactical herbicide the U.S. military used to clear leaves and vegetation for military operations mainly during the Vietnam War. Veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange may have certain related illnesses.

If you have an illness caused by exposure to Agent Orange during military service, read below to find out if you may be eligible for disability compensation.

The VA has added 3 more presumptive conditions related to Agent Orange exposure

This expands benefits for Veterans and survivors with these presumptive conditions:

• Bladder cancer.
• Hypothyroidism.
• Parkinsonism.

Cancers caused by Agent Orange exposure

• Bladder cancer: A type of cancer that affects the bladder where urine is stored before it leaves the body. The most common type of bladder cancer starts in the cells that line the inside of the bladder. This is called urothelial or transitional cell carcinoma.
• Chronic B-cell leukemia: A type of cancer that affects white blood cells. These are cells in the body’s immune system that help to fight off illnesses and infections.
• Hodgkin’s disease: A type of malignant lymphoma (cancer) that causes the lymph nodes, liver, and spleen to grow progressively larger. It also causes red blood cells to decrease more and more over time (called anemia).
• Multiple myeloma: A type of cancer that affects the plasma cells. These are a type of white blood cells made in the bone marrow that help to fight infection.
• Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma: A group of cancers that affect the lymph glands and other lymphatic tissue. These are parts of the immune system that help to fight infection and illness.
• Prostate cancer: Cancer of the prostate and one of the most common cancers among men
• Respiratory cancers (including lung cancer): Cancers of the organs involved in breathing. These include cancers of the lungs, larynx, trachea, and bronchus.
• Some soft tissue sarcomas: A group of different types of cancers in body tissues such as muscle, fat, blood and lymph vessels, and connective tissues. We don’t include osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma, or mesothelioma on our list of presumptive diseases.

Other illnesses caused by Agent Orange exposure

• AL amyloidosis: A rare illness that happens when an abnormal protein (called amyloid) enters the body’s tissues or organs. These include the organs like the heart, kidneys, or liver.
• Chloracne (or other types of acneiform disease like it): A skin condition that happens soon after exposure to chemicals. It looks like common forms of acne often seen in teenagers. Under our rating regulations, this condition must be at least 10% disabling within 1 year of herbicide exposure.
• Diabetes mellitus type 2: An illness that happens when the body can’t respond to the hormone insulin the way it should. This leads to high blood sugar levels.
• Hypothyroidism: A condition that causes the thyroid gland to not produce enough of certain important hormones. Hypothyroidism can cause health problems like obesity, joint pain, infertility, and heart disease.
• Ischemic heart disease: A type of heart disease that happens when the heart doesn’t get enough blood. This leads to chest pain.
• Parkinsonism: Any condition that causes a combination of abnormal movements. These include slow movements, trouble speaking, stiff muscles, or tremors. Tremors are rhythmic shaking movements in a part of the body caused by muscle contractions that you can't control.
• Parkinson’s disease: A progressive disorder of the nervous system that affects muscle movement—and often worsens over time. The nervous system is the network of nerves and fibers that send messages between the brain and spinal cord and other areas of the body.
• Peripheral neuropathy, early onset: An illness of the nervous system that causes numbness, tingling, and motor (or muscle) weakness. Under our rating regulations, this condition must be at least 10% disabling within 1 year of herbicide exposure.
• Porphyria cutanea tarda: A rare illness that can make the liver stop working the way it should. It can also cause the skin to thin and blister when exposed to the sun. Under our rating regulations, this condition must be at least 10% disabling within 1 year of herbicide exposure. 

If you have an illness that’s not on our list of presumptive diseases, but you believe it was caused by Agent Orange exposure, you can still file a claim for VA disability benefits. But you’ll need to submit more evidence. 

Service requirements for presumption of exposure

The VA bases eligibility for disability compensation benefits, in part, on whether you served in a location that exposed you to Agent Orange. The VA calls this having a presumption of exposure.

You have a presumption of exposure if you meet at least one of the service requirements listed below.

Between January 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975, you must have served for any length of time in at least one of these locations:

• In the Republic of Vietnam, or
• Aboard a U.S. military vessel that operated in the inland waterways of Vietnam, or
• On a vessel operating not more than 12 nautical miles seaward from the demarcation line of the waters of Vietnam and Cambodia, or
• On regular perimeter duty on the fenced-in perimeters of a U.S. Army installation in Thailand or a Royal Thai Air Force base. These bases include U-Tapao, Ubon, Nakhon Phanom, Udorn, Takhli, Korat, or Don Muang.

Or at least one of these must be true. You:

• Served in or near the Korean DMZ for any length of time between September 1, 1967, and August 31, 1971, or
• Served on active duty in a regular Air Force unit location where a C-123 aircraft with traces of Agent Orange was assigned, and had repeated contact with this aircraft due to your flight, ground, or medical duties, or
• Were involved in transporting, testing, storing, or other uses of Agent Orange during your military service, or
• Were assigned as a Reservist to certain flight, ground, or medical crew duties at one of the below locations.

Eligible Reserve locations, time periods, and units include:

• Lockbourne/Rickenbacker Air Force Base in Ohio, 1969 to 1986 (906th and 907th Tactical Air Groups or 355th and 356th Tactical Airlift Squadrons).
• Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts, 1972 to 1982 (731st Tactical Air Squadron and 74th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, or 901st Organizational Maintenance Squadron).
• Pittsburgh International Airport in Pennsylvania, 1972 to 1982 (758th Airlift Squadron).

What kind of benefits can I get?

• Health care.
• Compensation (payments).

Camp Lejeune water contamination health issues

If you served at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune or Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River in North Carolina, you may have had contact with contaminants in the drinking water there. Scientific and medical evidence has shown an association between exposure to these contaminants during military service and development of certain diseases later on. If you have qualifying service at Camp Lejeune and a current diagnosis of one of the conditions listed below, you may be able to get disability benefits.

Eligibility for disability benefits from VA

You may be eligible for disability benefits if you meet all of the requirements listed below.

Both of these must be true. You:

• Served at Camp Lejeune or MCAS New River for at least 30 cumulative days from August 1953 through December 1987, and
• Didn’t receive a dishonorable discharge when you separated from the military.

And you must have a diagnosis of one or more of these presumptive conditions:

• Adult leukemia.
• Aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes.
• Bladder cancer.
• Kidney cancer.
• Liver cancer.
• Multiple myeloma.
• Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
• Parkinson’s disease.

Who’s covered?

• Veterans.
• Reservists.
• Guardsmen.

What kind of benefits can I get?

• Health care.
• Compensation (payments).

Gulf War Illnesses linked to Southwest Asia service

If you served in the Southwest Asia Theater of military operations, you may suffer from illnesses or other conditions that the VA assumes are related to service in this region (presumptive diseases). 

Eligibility for disability benefits from VA

You may be eligible for disability benefits if you served in the Southwest Asia Theater of military operations during the Gulf War period and you didn’t receive a dishonorable discharge.

Your illness or condition must also meet the requirements of the time periods listed below. Read the eligibility requirements related to time of diagnosis.

Eligibility requirements related to time of diagnosis

If your illness or condition was diagnosed while you were on active duty or before December 31, 2026.

You can get benefits for your illness or condition if both of these descriptions are true for you and you have one of these presumptive diseases.

Both of these must be true. Your illness or condition:

• Caused you to be ill for at least 6 months, and
• Resulted in a disability rating of 10% or more. 

And you have one of these presumptive diseases:

• Functional gastrointestinal disorders.
• Chronic fatigue syndrome.
• Fibromyalgia.
• Other undiagnosed illnesses, including but not limited to cardiovascular disease, muscle and joint pain, and headaches.

If your illness or condition was diagnosed within one year of your date of separation

You can get disability benefits for your illness or condition if you have a disability rating of 10% or more and you have one of these presumptive diseases:

• Brucellosis. 
• Campylobacter jejuni.
• Coxiella burnetii (Q fever).
• Nontyphoid salmonella.
• Shigella.
• West Nile virus.
• Malaria (or sooner in some cases).

If your illness or condition was diagnosed at any time after your date of separation

You can get disability benefits for your illness or condition if you have a disability rating of 10% or more and you have one of these presumptive diseases:

• Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
• Visceral leishmaniasis.

 What kind of disability benefits can I get?

• Health care.
• Compensation (payments).

Exposure to specific environmental hazards (Burn Pit Exposure) 

If you had contact with certain environmental hazards while serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other areas, you may have illnesses or other conditions believed to be caused by these toxic chemicals in the air, water, or soil.

On April 25, 2022, VA announced that nine rare respiratory cancers are now presumed service-connected disabilities due to military environmental exposures to fine particulate matter. These cancers include:

• Squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx
• Squamous cell carcinoma of the trachea
• Adenocarcinoma of the trachea
• Salivary gland-type tumors of the trachea
• Adenosquamous carcinoma of the lung
• Large cell carcinoma of the lung
• Salivary gland-type tumors of the lung
• Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the lung
• Typical and atypical carcinoid of the lung

VA will process disability compensation claims for these conditions for Veterans who served any amount of time in the Southwest Asia theater of operations beginning Aug. 2, 1990, to the present, or Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Syria or Djibouti beginning Sept. 19, 2001, to the present.

The VA has added 3 presumptive conditions related to particulate matter exposure

The new presumptive conditions are asthma, rhinitis, and sinusitis. To be eligible for benefits, you must have gotten one of these conditions within 10 years of your separation from active military service.

This will expand benefits for Veterans who served in:

• Afghanistan, Djibouti, Syria, and Uzbekistan during the Persian Gulf War, from September 19, 2001, to the present, or
• Southwest Asia from August 2, 1990, to the present.

Eligibility for disability benefits from VA

You may be eligible for disability benefits if you have an illness or other condition believed to be caused by your contact with an environmental hazard while serving in the military. This may include contact with:

• Particulate matter or large burn pits in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.
• A large sulfur fire at Mishraq State Sulfur Mine near Mosul, Iraq.
• Hexavalent chromium at the Qarmat Ali water treatment plant in Basra, Iraq.
• Pollutants from a waste incinerator near the Naval Air Facility at Atsugi, Japan.

What kind of disability benefits can I get?

• Health care.
• Compensation (payments).