Filing a Diabetes (Type 2) Claim

In crisis? Call the Veterans Crisis Line: dial 988, then press 1. You can also text 838255 or chat online at veteranscrisisline.net. It is free, confidential, and available 24/7.

This is general education, not legal or claims advice, and not guidance for your specific claim. It cannot promise you a rating or an outcome, and no one can. For help with your own claim, see a free accredited representative (see Get free, accredited help below). Nothing here creates a representative relationship.

Current as of October 2026. Rules, forms, and figures change. Check current details at va.gov.

The best way to use this guide

The strongest position is to be your own informed advocate and to work with a free accredited representative. An accredited Veterans Service Organization, such as the DAV, VFW, American Legion, or a county or state veterans office, helps at no charge. Accredited claims agents and attorneys can help too. They can't charge for work done before VA issues its initial decision on your claim, and after that they may charge a fee within the limits of 38 CFR 14.636. This guide is here so you understand your own situation and can work with them as a full partner instead of handing it over blind. If you'd rather handle this yourself, and you're comfortable doing that, the guide walks you through every step. Either way, you stay in control.

What you'll get done

The outcome: By the end of this guide you'll have filed a type 2 diabetes claim on VA Form 21-526EZ on the path that fits, including the Agent Orange presumptive path, with each complication named so it's claimed too.

This guide prepares you for the task. It doesn't and can't promise a rating, a percentage, or an outcome. The evidence in your file decides the result.

What you need before you start

• A way to get on VA.gov, or VA's main number, 1-800-827-1000.
• A current type 2 diabetes diagnosis and your treatment plan (diet, pills, or insulin).
• Your service history, including any Agent Orange location and dates.
• Records of how your diabetes is managed and whether a provider has told you to avoid strenuous activity to control it.
• A list of any complications: nerve damage, eye disease, kidney or heart problems, or erectile dysfunction.
• Your VA file number, if you have one.

When to start: Today. An Intent to File holds your potential start date for one year while you gather the rest.

Start here: the basics

VA rates diabetes under Diagnostic Code 7913. The level turns on how it's managed: restricted diet, pills, or insulin, and whether a provider has told you to avoid strenuous work and recreation to keep it under control. Hospital stays or frequent visits for low or high blood sugar matter at the higher levels. For many Vietnam-era veterans there's a shorter road: type 2 diabetes is on the Agent Orange presumptive list, so if your service fits, you don't have to prove the link. Diabetes also causes complications. Ones that are bad enough to rate on their own get their own rating, unless VA uses them to support the top diabetes rating. Milder ones are counted as part of the diabetes rating. This guide prints no percentages. See how diabetes is rated at va.gov.

Where this is written down: 38 CFR § 4.119, DC 7913 and Note (1); 38 CFR § 3.309(e); 38 U.S.C. § 1116.

The steps

Step 1. File an Intent to File.

This is the same first step as every VA claim. It holds your start date for one year while you gather evidence. How to file an Intent to File, step by step.

Where this is written down: 38 CFR § 3.155(b).

Done when you have a confirmation saved.

Step 2. Check the presumptive paths first.

How. Agent Orange service includes Vietnam and its offshore waters from January 9, 1962 to May 7, 1975; in or near the Korean DMZ from September 1, 1967 to August 31, 1971; any U.S. or Royal Thai base in Thailand from January 9, 1962 to June 30, 1976; Laos, parts of Cambodia, Guam, American Samoa, and Johnston Atoll during set periods; and certain C-123 aircraft crews. Check your dates against the list at va.gov.

If your service fits, then claim type 2 diabetes as an Agent Orange presumptive. You don't need a link opinion. If it showed up within one year after you left active duty, at a level VA would rate (even diet control alone counts), then look at the one-year rule for chronic diseases. If neither fits, then claim it directly with medical evidence, and take that one to a free accredited representative.

Where this is written down: 38 U.S.C. § 1116(d) and 1116B; 38 CFR §§ 3.307(a)(3), (a)(6), 3.309(a), (e).

Done when you know which path is open to you.

Step 3. Document how your diabetes is managed.

How. Gather records that show your diet, pills, or insulin, how many injections a day, any hospital stays or frequent visits for blood-sugar reactions, and any written instruction from a provider to avoid strenuous activity. The way it's managed drives the rating.

Where this is written down: 38 CFR § 4.119, DC 7913.

Done when you have records of your treatment and any activity restriction.

Step 4. List every complication.

How. Write down each one: nerve damage in the feet or hands, eye disease, kidney or heart problems, erectile dysfunction. Claim each as secondary to diabetes. VA also has to consider complications that show up in the evidence for your claim.

Do not file diabetes alone and leave known complications for later. A complication that's bad enough to rate on its own gets its own rating, unless VA uses it to support the top diabetes rating. Naming it now keeps it in this claim.

Where this is written down: 38 CFR § 3.310(a); 38 CFR § 3.155(d)(2); 38 CFR § 4.119, DC 7913, Note (1).

Done when you've listed the complications to claim.

Step 5. Line up any medical link you still need.

How. The Agent Orange path needs no link opinion. For a direct claim, or for a complication, the file needs a medical opinion tying it to service or to diabetes. VA usually gets that opinion at the exam, and you can also send one from your own provider.

Where this is written down: 38 CFR § 3.159(c)(4).

Done when you have the opinions your claims need, or you know VA will get them.

Step 6. File the 21-526EZ naming diabetes and each complication.

How. List type 2 diabetes and each complication on its own line, for example "peripheral neuropathy, both feet, secondary to diabetes." File online at va.gov/disability/file-disability-claim-form-21-526ez, or mail it with tracking to: Department of Veterans Affairs, Claims Intake Center, PO Box 4444, Janesville, WI 53547-4444.

Done when the claim names diabetes and every complication, and you've kept proof of filing.

Step 7. Go to the exam and confirm your file.

How. At the exam, describe how it's managed, any activity limits, and each complication. About 10 days after filing, check va.gov/claim-or-appeal-status or call 1-800-827-1000 to make sure everything is in your file.

Do not skip the exam. If you can't make it, call before the appointment to reschedule. Without good cause, VA decides a first claim on what's already in the file.

Where this is written down: 38 CFR § 3.655(b).

Done when the exam is done and you've confirmed your documents are on file.

Recap checklist

• Filed an Intent to File and saved the confirmation.
• Checked the Agent Orange and one-year paths first.
• Documented my treatment and any activity restriction.
• Listed every complication to claim as secondary.
• Lined up medical links where the presumption didn't apply.
• Filed the 21-526EZ naming diabetes and each complication.
• Went to the exam and confirmed my file.

Reminder: rules and rates change. Check any current figure at va.gov. Help from an accredited Veterans Service Organization is free. Accredited claims agents and attorneys can't charge for work done before VA issues its initial decision on your claim. After that, they may charge a fee within the limits of 38 CFR 14.636. This guide prepared you for the task. The evidence in your file decides the result.

Go further

• The book: The PACT Act Playbook, the full guide this one comes from. Coming soon as a PDF on this site and in Kindle and paperback on Amazon.
• The workbook: The Master VA Claim Workbook, a fillable PDF. Coming soon.
• Free toolkit: the worksheets that go with The PACT Act Playbook. No signup.

Get free, accredited help

For anything about your own claim, talk to an accredited representative. Help from an accredited Veterans Service Organization is free. Accredited claims agents and attorneys can't charge for work done before VA issues its initial decision on your claim. After that, they may charge a fee within the limits of 38 CFR 14.636. Free help is available through Veterans Service Organizations such as the DAV, VFW, and American Legion, and through county and state veterans offices.

To find one near you, visit va.gov/get-help-from-accredited-representative. Representation begins only when you sign VA Form 21-22 (for a Veterans Service Organization) or 21-22a (for an individual agent or attorney). With one rare exception for a single unpaid case, only accredited people can represent you before the VA, and only an accredited agent or attorney can charge you a fee. Nothing in this guide creates that relationship.

A warning about claim sharks. Anyone who offers to file your initial claim for a fee, or who guarantees you a rating or a percentage, is selling something you shouldn't buy. Accredited Veterans Service Organizations help at no charge, and accredited claims agents and attorneys may charge only after VA issues its initial decision, within the limits of 38 CFR 14.636. Report predatory companies to the VA Office of Inspector General at 1-800-488-8244.

About this guide

This guide is education, not representation. It explains how part of the VA system works so you can handle your own business with confidence. It is not legal or claims advice, and reading it does not create any representative relationship between you and the author. The author is not affiliated with the Department of Veterans Affairs, and nothing here is endorsed by the VA.

This guide prints no live VA dollar figures and no rating percentages on purpose, because they change. Before you make a decision based on any number, check the current figure at va.gov. No book can promise you a rating; the evidence in your file decides the result. Help from an accredited Veterans Service Officer is always free.

Details

• PDF, US Letter, 8 pages including the cover
• 13 fillable checkboxes
• Current as of October 2026

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Never a cut of your claim.

About the author: J. Erickson is a service-disabled Air Force veteran. He served as a military firefighter and as a veteran service officer, where he spent years walking veterans through the same claims process he writes about now. He holds an MBA and writes plain-language guides for veterans who want to understand the system without a translator.