Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus (sometimes just called "diabetes" or "diabetic") is a condition where your body cannot properly control blood sugar. The VA treats it as a disability under its rating rules for the endocrine system. To be paid for it, the condition generally must be "service-connected" — meaning the VA agrees it is linked to your military service. The VA rates diabetes under diagnostic code 7913.

Under code 7913, your rating percentage goes up as the treatment your diabetes requires gets more serious. The VA assigns 10% when diabetes is manageable by restricted diet only, and 20% when it requires one or more daily insulin shots and a restricted diet, or an oral medicine and restricted diet. A 40% rating applies when it requires insulin, a restricted diet, and "regulation of activities" (avoiding strenuous activity). Higher ratings of 60% and 100% involve insulin, restricted diet, regulation of activities, plus episodes like ketoacidosis or low-blood-sugar reactions needing hospital visits or frequent provider visits, and certain complications. The rules also note that compensable complications of diabetes are generally rated separately unless they are already counted toward a 100% evaluation.

There is an important exposure pathway. The VA recognizes Type 2 diabetes (adult-onset diabetes mellitus) as a disease associated with exposure to certain herbicide agents, such as Agent Orange. If a veteran was exposed to an herbicide agent during qualifying service and the regulation's requirements are met, the disease can be "presumed" service-connected even with no record of it during service. This presumptive pathway can remove the usual burden of proving a direct medical link (nexus) between your service and your diabetes.

This is educational information about how the VA's rules generally work — it is not legal advice, a promise about any rating, or a VA decision on your claim.