Filing an Erectile Dysfunction 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 an erectile dysfunction claim on VA Form 21-526EZ, usually as secondary to a service-connected condition, with special monthly compensation for loss of use of a creative organ raised by name.

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 record of erectile dysfunction.
• The name of the service-connected condition, or the medicine you take for it, that likely causes it (diabetes, a mental health condition, or its medicine are common).
• The date you started any medicine you think is involved, and a note of your treatment and how well it works.
• 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 erectile dysfunction under Diagnostic Code 7522, "Erectile dysfunction, with or without penile deformity." That code has one level, and it doesn't pay on its own. What can pay is special monthly compensation, often called SMC-K, for loss of use of a creative organ. SMC-K is paid on top of your regular compensation. It isn't automatic: it takes medical evidence of loss of use. The rating schedule tells raters to review every 7522 rating for it. Erectile dysfunction is usually secondary: caused by a service-connected condition such as diabetes or a mental health condition, or by a medicine prescribed for one. This guide prints no percentages or dollar figures. Check current amounts at va.gov.

Where this is written down: 38 CFR § 4.115b, DC 7522 and footnote 1; 38 CFR § 3.350(a); 38 U.S.C. § 1114(k); 38 CFR § 3.310.

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. Name the service-connected cause.

How. Identify the service-connected condition or medicine that likely causes the erectile dysfunction, such as diabetes, a mental health condition, or the medicine for one.

If a service-connected condition or its medicine is the likely cause, then claim it as secondary. If a service-connected condition made existing erectile dysfunction worse, then that's aggravation, and VA will need medical evidence of how it was before it got worse, or the earliest medical evidence from after it started getting worse. If it came from an injury or surgery in service, then claim it directly.

Where this is written down: 38 CFR § 3.310(a) and (b); 38 CFR § 3.303.

Done when you've named the condition or medicine behind it.

Step 3. Get the medical record and the link.

How. Make sure a provider has documented the erectile dysfunction. The file also needs an opinion on whether it's "at least as likely as not" caused or made worse by the condition or medicine you named. VA usually gets that at the exam, and you can also send one from your own provider. Ask that any opinion also say whether there's loss of use of a creative organ, in those words.

Where this is written down: 38 CFR § 3.159(c)(4); 38 CFR § 3.350(a).

Done when the condition is documented and you know how the link and loss-of-use evidence will get into the file.

Step 4. Ask for special monthly compensation by name.

How. On your claim, add a line asking for special monthly compensation for loss of use of a creative organ (SMC-K). VA has to consider SMC as part of a claim even if you don't ask, but naming it keeps it in front of the rater.

Do not stop at the 7522 rating. When the decision comes, check that it says whether SMC-K was granted or denied. If it says nothing, take the letter to a free accredited representative.

Where this is written down: 38 CFR § 3.155(d)(2); 38 CFR § 4.115b, DC 7522, footnote 1.

Done when your claim asks for SMC-K in writing.

Step 5. File the 21-526EZ and describe it plainly.

How. List erectile dysfunction, name the condition or medicine that causes it, and add the SMC-K request. Describe it in plain medical terms. It's a medical condition, and the record is what counts. 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 the condition, its cause, and the SMC-K request, and you've kept proof of filing.

Step 6. Go to any exam and confirm your file.

How. If VA schedules an exam, answer honestly. 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 any exam is done and you've confirmed your documents are on file.

Recap checklist

• Filed an Intent to File and saved the confirmation.
• Named the service-connected condition or medicine behind it.
• Got it documented and know how the link and loss-of-use evidence get into the file.
• Asked for SMC-K by name, and will check the decision for it.
• Filed the 21-526EZ naming the condition, its cause, and the SMC-K request.
• Went to any 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: VA Secondary Claims Manual, 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 VA Secondary Claims Manual. 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
• 11 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.