This week, our team breaks down 5 of the ways Veterans can receive service connection for their disabilities. Learn about direct, presumptive, secondary, aggravation, and 1151 VA service connection claims. Our Veterans Law advocates provide Veterans with valuable information by explaining each type of service connection, and how to build a stong VA claim for each type. Feel free to leave a question or comment if you have any questions on the VA disability benefits and service connection!

Table of Contents:
0:00 Introduction
1:13 Generally, what is Service Connection with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)?
2:36 Method #1: Direct VA Service Connection and the Three Elements
3:06 Current Disability Element: Do You Need a Diagnosis? Does Pain Count as a Disability?
5:30 What Does VA Consider a Disability? What Conditions Cannot Be Service Connected?
6:38: In-Service Injury, Event, or Illness Element: What Evidence Can Help?
7:48 VA’s Duty to Assist Veterans in Obtaining Evidence to Support Their Claim
9:04 Medical Nexus Element: What is a Nexus, and What Evidence Will Help to Satisfy this Element of Service Connection?
12:25 Situations Where a Medical Nexus is Not Required for Your VA Claim
12:50 Method #2: VA Presumptions—What They Are and Why They Were Established
14:28 How VA Presumptions Play into the Elements of Service Connection and Examples
15:00 The Presumption of Exposure vs. Presumption of Service Connection
18:05 Other Presumptions and Helpful Tips—Gulf War Veterans, Chronic Disabilities Within One or Seven Years
23:05 Method #3: Secondary VA Service Connection—What is it and How to Prove it?
24:10 Common Examples of Secondary Service-Connected VA Disabilities
25:38 Indirect Secondary Service Connection: Conditions Caused by Medications or Treatment, Wear and Tear for Musculoskeletal Conditions
26:35 How to File a VA Claim for Secondary Service Connection or Raise Those Symptoms as Part of the Original Claim
29:47 Does VA Rate Secondary Service Connection Claims Differently?
30:56 Method #4: VA Service Connection Based on Aggravation
31:51 Pre-Existing Conditions and VA Disability Benefits: How VA Will Assess Your Disability
34:03 VA’s Presumption of Soundness and the Role it Plays
37:35 After Service: Service-Connected Condition Aggravating Another Condition and Examples
38:50 How VA Rates Aggravation Claims: More VA Math
42:10 How VA Determines the First Disability Rating for Aggravation Claims and What Veterans Can Do to Help Their VA Claims
46:05 Method #5: 1151 VA Claims—Service Connection for Conditions Caused by VA Care and How to File
47:13 What Veterans Must Show for a Successful 1151 VA Claim
48:28 Important Forms of Evidence for 1151 VA Claims
50:25 Establishing Service Connection for 1151 VA Claims
52:29 Can a Surviving Spouse or Dependent File an 1151 VA Claim for Cause of Veteran’s Death?
54:47 Closing Thoughts From CCK’s Veterans’ Advocates

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