VA claims glossary: every term in plain language

Aid & Attendance: Extra compensation when a veteran (or their spouse) needs help with daily activities like bathing and dressing.
AMA: Appeals Modernization Act - the current system giving you three review lanes (Supplemental, HLR, Board) and one year to act while keeping your effective date.
Back Pay: A lump-sum payment covering the period between your effective date and the VA’s approval of your claim.
Bilateral Factor: A 10% boost when compensable disabilities affect both arms or both legs (38 CFR § 4.26), applied before combining with other ratings.
Board Appeal (BVA): Appeal to a Veterans Law Judge (VA Form 10182). Three dockets: direct review (~1 yr), evidence submission (~1.5 yrs), hearing (2+ yrs). Roughly 30% approval rates in recent years.
C-File: Your VA claims file - everything the VA has on your claims: records, exams, decisions, and evidence.
C&P Exam: Compensation & Pension exam - a medical appointment where a VA (or contracted) examiner documents your condition. The examiner records; they don’t decide your rating.
Combined Rating: Your overall disability percentage. The VA doesn’t add ratings - it combines them with "VA math," so 50% + 50% = 75, which rounds to 80%.
Current Disability: The first of the three things every claim must prove: the condition exists NOW, not only that it was diagnosed once. No rule sets an expiry date on a diagnosis, but an old record with years of no treatment behind it reads as a condition that resolved - and for mental health the rating itself measures present-day impairment.
DBQ: Disability Benefits Questionnaire - the standardized severity form that decides your percentage. The VA produces one free via your C&P exam; a private one from your own provider is optional supporting evidence (strongest for increases, mental health, and flare-up conditions).
DD-214: Your discharge document - proves service dates, locations, and character of discharge. Critical for presumptive eligibility.
Diagnostic Code (DC): The four-digit code (38 CFR Part 4) the VA rates each condition under. The code chosen controls the rating criteria - and sometimes the maximum.
Duty to Assist: The VA’s legal obligation to help gather your records in a standard claim - helpful, but typically adds 60–120 days versus an FDC.
Effective Date: The date your benefits are calculated from - usually your ITF or filing date. Back pay covers the gap between this date and approval.
Fully Developed Claim (FDC): A filing track where you submit all evidence upfront and certify there’s no more. Processes roughly 49% faster, risk-free - the VA moves you to standard if it needs more.
Goniometer: The protractor-like tool examiners MUST use to measure joint range of motion. An examiner who eyeballs it has given you an inadequate exam.
Higher-Level Review (HLR): An appeal lane (VA Form 20-0996) where a senior reviewer re-examines the same evidence for errors. No new evidence allowed; you can request an informal conference.
Intent to File (ITF): A placeholder (VA Form 21-0966) that locks your effective date for up to one year while you build your claim - protecting months of back pay.
Lay Evidence / Buddy Statement: Statements from you, family, or fellow service members (VA Forms 21-4138 / 21-10210). Can’t diagnose, but powerfully proves symptom severity and in-service events.
Nexus Letter: A doctor’s written opinion connecting your condition to your military service (or to a service-connected condition), using the phrase "at least as likely as not." Your own doctor can write one - or a vetted third-party provider can (see the Doctor Packet page for both paths).
PACT Act: The 2022 law that massively expanded presumptive conditions for burn pit / airborne hazard exposure (post-9/11 and Gulf War veterans) and added Agent Orange locations.
Permanent & Total (P&T): A 100% rating the VA has deemed static - no future re-exams. The only 100% that unlocks CHAMPVA family healthcare, Chapter 35 education benefits, and state perks like property-tax exemptions.
Presumptive Condition: A condition the VA automatically assumes is service-connected based on where and when you served (PACT Act, Agent Orange, etc.). No nexus letter needed.
Prostrating (migraines): An attack severe enough to force you to stop and lie down. Frequency of prostrating attacks - plus missed work - drives migraine ratings up to 50%.
Pyramiding: Being rated twice for the same symptoms - prohibited (38 CFR § 4.14). PTSD and depression rate together; but knee instability and knee limited-motion rate separately.
Rating Code Sheet: The decision-letter attachment listing each condition, its diagnostic code, your combined rating, and effective dates. Audit it - wrong codes cost money.
RVSR: Rating Veterans Service Representative - the VA employee who applies the rating schedule to your evidence and decides your percentage.
Schedular Rating: A rating earned through the rating schedule math (as opposed to TDIU or extraschedular). 100% schedular has no work restrictions.
Secondary Condition: A condition caused or aggravated by an already service-connected condition (38 CFR § 3.310) - e.g., radiculopathy secondary to a back condition.
Service Connection: The VA’s recognition that a condition was caused or aggravated by military service. Requires a diagnosis, an in-service event/exposure, and a nexus between them.
Service Treatment Records (STRs): Your military medical records - the primary evidence of in-service injuries, symptoms, and treatment.
SMC: Special Monthly Compensation - extra tax-free pay beyond the rating schedule for severe situations. SMC-K (~$139.87/mo) covers loss of use of a creative organ (e.g., ED) and is almost universally missed.
Supplemental Claim: An appeal lane (VA Form 20-0995) for submitting new and relevant evidence - like a fresh nexus letter - within one year to preserve your effective date.
TDIU: Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability - pay at the 100% rate when service-connected conditions prevent substantially gainful employment (60% single, or 70% combined with one at 40%+). VA Form 21-8940.
VA Math: The diminishing-returns formula (38 CFR § 4.25): each new rating applies only to your remaining "efficiency," and the final value rounds to the nearest 10.