Type 2 diabetes VA rating
The VA rates type 2 diabetes under DC 7913, and most ratings land in the 10–100% range. What decides yours is the criteria below and what your record actually documents.
What the criteria ask for at each level
DC 7913 - 38 CFR §4.119
| Rating | What the record has to show |
|---|---|
| 10% | Manageable by restricted diet alone. |
| 20% | Requires insulin or oral medication plus restricted diet. |
| 40% | Requires insulin, restricted diet, AND regulation of activities. |
| 60% | Insulin, restricted diet and regulation of activities, PLUS episodes of ketoacidosis or hypoglycemic reactions requiring one or two hospitalisations a year or twice-monthly visits to a diabetic care provider, plus complications that would not be compensable if rated separately. |
| 100% | More than one daily insulin injection, restricted diet and regulation of activities, PLUS ketoacidosis or hypoglycemic reactions requiring at least three hospitalisations a year or weekly provider visits, plus either progressive loss of weight and strength or complications that WOULD be compensable if rated separately. |
The schedule's own words
Ratings turn on specific terms, and a record that describes the same reality in different language often reads as a lower rating. These are the words this code measures:
- regulation of activities - the schedule means avoidance of strenuous occupational and recreational activities MEDICALLY PRESCRIBED by a doctor, not a restriction you chose. It is the point the 20%-versus-40% argument turns on and it has to be written in your records
- restricted diet
- ketoacidosis
- hypoglycemic reactions
Evidence that moves this rating
- A1c history and medication records
- Doctor documentation of activity restrictions
What your statement has to cover
Doctors chart symptoms; they rarely chart consequences. That part is yours, and it is usually what separates a documented rating from a reported one.
- State each element you meet: medication type, prescribed diet, and any doctor-ordered activity limits ("regulation of activities" is the 40% key - it must be medically required).
- List every complication separately: neuropathy, retinopathy, kidney, ED - each is its own secondary claim.
Our Statement Builderwalks through the questions that produce that kind of statement, in the schedule's own terms.
What type 2 diabetes can lead to 8 documented pathways
A secondary claim runs through a condition the VA already accepts, so the argument about your service is already won. What is left is the medical link - and a nexus opinion has to name the mechanism, not just the pair.
| Can lead to | The mechanism a nexus has to state |
|---|---|
| High blood pressure (hypertension) | Diabetic vascular damage and kidney involvement drive blood pressure up. |
| GERD (acid reflux) | Diabetic nerve damage slows stomach emptying (gastroparesis), aggravating reflux. |
| Depression | The daily burden of managing diabetes and its complications degrades mental health. |
| Peripheral neuropathy | High blood sugar damages nerves in the hands and feet. File each extremity separately for the bilateral factor. |
| Diabetic retinopathy / eye conditions | High blood sugar destroys the delicate blood vessels in the retina, causing vision loss. |
| Chronic kidney disease | High blood sugar destroys the kidneys’ filtering vessels. |
| Heart disease (ischemic / CAD) | Diabetes greatly increases cardiovascular risk. |
| Erectile dysfunction / FSAD | Nerve and blood-vessel damage. Qualifies for SMC-K even at 0%. |
A pathway existing in the literature is not the same as your claim being granted - your records and the VA decide that. How secondary claims work covers the argument.
Before you spend money on this claim
VA ratings do not add. Each new rating applies only to the part of you the VA still counts as unimpaired, then rounds to the nearest ten - so from 70%, a new 10% condition leaves you at exactly 70% and changes your payment by nothing.
That does not make the claim worthless; it can still matter for TDIU, for SMC, or later when something else is added. But it is worth knowing before you pay for a nexus letter rather than after. Check what one more condition does at your rating - it takes a minute.