Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a group of eye conditions that damage the optic nerve, often from raised pressure inside the eye, and can reduce the field of vision over time.
How the VA looks at Glaucoma
VA rating schedule, diagnostic code 6013
Glaucoma is a recognized eye condition the VA can service-connect and rate when it is linked to your military service. The VA rates eye conditions under its schedule for diseases of the eye in 38 CFR § 4.79. Glaucoma has its own diagnostic codes: code 6013 covers open-angle glaucoma (the most common type, which slowly and often painlessly affects vision over time) and code 6012 covers angle-closure glaucoma.
Glaucoma is not rated by the diagnosis alone. Instead, the VA evaluates it under the General Rating Formula for Diseases of the Eye, which looks at how much the condition affects your sight — your visual acuity (how clearly you see) and your visual field (how much area you can see). For some eye conditions the formula can also consider "incapacitating episodes," and the VA uses whichever method results in the higher evaluation.
The rules also include a minimum-rating concept. For both open-angle (6013) and angle-closure (6012) glaucoma, 38 CFR § 4.79 provides a minimum evaluation of 10 percent if continuous medication is required to manage the condition. So if your records show you must take ongoing medication, such as daily eye drops, the rules set a floor of at least 10 percent even when measured vision loss is limited. Your diagnosis, treatment records, and eye-exam results all help the VA apply these rules.
This is general educational information about how the VA's rules work — not legal advice, not a VA decision, and not a prediction about any individual claim. Outcomes depend on your own facts and evidence; a denial can be appealed.
Grounded in federal regulations and VA guidance, independently reviewed June 2026. Educational information, not legal advice or a VA determination.
Across 1,865 real Board appeals for Glaucoma
57% were granted, partly granted, or remanded.
A denial is often not the end — remands are sent back for more development and frequently end in a grant.
- Granted 15%
- Partly granted 6%
- Remanded 35%
- Denied 36%
- Dismissed 8%
What tends to win
Among the appeals that were granted or partly granted, the most common ways Glaucoma was linked to service:
- Direct service connection255
- Reopened with new & material evidence44
- Secondary to another service-connected condition41
How it’s rated, in practice
When Glaucoma was granted, the rating most often assigned was:
- 100% (39)
- 10% (34)
- 20% (16)
- 50% (14)
- 70% (11)
Presumptive & exposure paths
These appeals involved a recognized exposure — which can mean the link to service is presumed, with no nexus to prove:
- PACT Act30
- Agent Orange / herbicides27
- Burn pits & airborne hazards23
- Gulf War16
- Camp Lejeune water15
Real decisions
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for multiple conditions, including a bilateral eye disability and cardiovascular conditions, based on the Veteran's in-service occupational exposures.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for left eye glaucoma, resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for dry eye syndrome, bilateral pseudophakia, and bilateral glaucoma based on a TERA during the Veteran's active duty.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for branch retinal vein occlusion and glaucoma, both as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected hypertension.
- Granted
The Board granted an earlier effective date for a 70 percent evaluation for bilateral glaucoma to include dry eye syndrome, beginning August 31, 2021.
- Granted
The Board granted an initial rating of 40 percent for the Veteran's eye condition, based on visual impairment in both eyes.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.