4 Agent Orange Conditions the VA Presumes (One Changes October 1)
Curtis Hale | Veterans Benefits
15,363 views
Four conditions on the VA's Agent Orange list are presumed, which means you do not have to prove what caused them. One of the four has a date written into the law: October 1, 2026.
🎖️ WHAT THIS COVERS
I'm a veteran. I fought my own claim, and I read the rules out loud here with every citation on the screen so you can check them yourself. Bladder cancer, hypothyroidism, MGUS, and high blood pressure, and the catch on each one, because every one of these carries a catch that nobody puts in the headline. Presumed means the VA accepts the cause. The diagnosis and the filing are still on you, and not one of them pays a dime until somebody files.
The four, and the catch on each:
1. Bladder cancer, added in 2021. Rated 100 percent while the cancer is active and for six months after treatment ends, which is $3,938.58 a month for a veteran alone. The catch: that 100 percent is a window, not a permanent rating. 38 CFR 4.115b, diagnostic code 7528, calls for an exam after it, and the rating then runs off residuals at 10 to 60 percent. The check can change. The service connection does not.
2. Hypothyroidism, added in 2021. Rated 30 percent for the first six months after it is service connected, which is $552.47 a month. The catch: the 30 percent is a window too. After it, the VA rates what the condition is still doing to you, and the pieces of it get rated under their own codes.
3. MGUS, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, added by the PACT Act with an effective date of October 1, 2022. The catch: it usually rates at 0 percent, so it pays nothing today. It is in this video because zero percent still establishes the service connection and sets your effective date, and MGUS can progress to multiple myeloma, which is already on the presumptive list and is rated 100 percent while active.
4. High blood pressure, added by the PACT Act. It is on the presumptive list today and you can file today. Its date of applicability is October 1, 2026, and section 407 of that same law says the VA shall not deny your claim because you filed it before that date. The catch: well-controlled pressure usually lands at 10 percent, which is $180.42 a month, tax free, for a condition you are already being treated for.
Also here: the Blue Water Navy Act of 2019 and the 12-nautical-mile rule for sailors who never went ashore, what to do if you were denied for one of these before it was on the list, and the carve-out that can reach an effective date back to August 10, 2022 for veterans who are 85 or older, terminally ill, homeless, or in extreme financial hardship.
⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 - Four conditions the VA presumes
0:32 - What "automatic" actually means
1:04 - Where and when you had to serve
1:33 - Blue Water Navy: the ships offshore
2:10 - How to read every dollar figure here
2:20 - 1. Bladder cancer, and the six-month window
2:44 - The catch: 100 percent is not permanent
3:16 - 2. Hypothyroidism, and the 30 percent clock
4:13 - Parkinsonism, the other 2021 addition
4:28 - 3. MGUS, the one almost nobody has heard of
5:00 - Why a zero percent rating is still worth filing
5:41 - 4. High blood pressure
5:54 - October 1, 2026, and section 407
6:29 - What each hypertension rating pays
7:23 - A question for the comments
7:44 - Denied before it was on the list
8:18 - The early effective date carve-out
8:36 - The whole thing in three moves
9:02 - One plain warning about the sharks
📜 PRIMARY SOURCES
38 CFR 3.309(e) for the presumptive conditions list, and 38 CFR 3.307(a)(6) for the service locations and dates. PACT Act, Public Law 117-168, for hypertension and MGUS, including the October 1, 2026 date of applicability and section 407. Blue Water Navy Act of 2019, Public Law 116-23. 38 CFR 4.115b, diagnostic code 7528, for bladder cancer. VA.gov disability compensation rates, effective December 1, 2025, veteran alone, no dependents.
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This is general information, not legal or financial advice. I'm not a lawyer or an accredited representative, and what the rules allow for isn't a promise about your own file, which depends on your own record. Filing is free, and it stays free: an accredited Veterans Service Officer, the DAV, the VFW, the American Legion, or your county veterans office will help you at no cost. Anyone who asks for a cut of your back pay to file an initial claim is the one thing here to walk away from.
#VeteransBenefits #AgentOrange #VADisability
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4 Agent Orange Conditions the VA Presumes (One Changes October 1)
Curtis Hale | Veterans Benefits
15,363 views
Four conditions on the VA's Agent Orange list are presumed, which means you do not have to prove what caused them. One of the four has a date written into the law: October 1, 2026.
🎖️ WHAT THIS COVERS
I'm a veteran. I fought my own claim, and I read the rules out loud here with every citation on the screen so you can check them yourself. Bladder cancer, hypothyroidism, MGUS, and high blood pressure, and the catch on each one, because every one of these carries a catch that nobody puts in the headline. Presumed means the VA accepts the cause. The diagnosis and the filing are still on you, and not one of them pays a dime until somebody files.
The four, and the catch on each:
1. Bladder cancer, added in 2021. Rated 100 percent while the cancer is active and for six months after treatment ends, which is $3,938.58 a month for a veteran alone. The catch: that 100 percent is a window, not a permanent rating. 38 CFR 4.115b, diagnostic code 7528, calls for an exam after it, and the rating then runs off residuals at 10 to 60 percent. The check can change. The service connection does not.
2. Hypothyroidism, added in 2021. Rated 30 percent for the first six months after it is service connected, which is $552.47 a month. The catch: the 30 percent is a window too. After it, the VA rates what the condition is still doing to you, and the pieces of it get rated under their own codes.
3. MGUS, monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, added by the PACT Act with an effective date of October 1, 2022. The catch: it usually rates at 0 percent, so it pays nothing today. It is in this video because zero percent still establishes the service connection and sets your effective date, and MGUS can progress to multiple myeloma, which is already on the presumptive list and is rated 100 percent while active.
4. High blood pressure, added by the PACT Act. It is on the presumptive list today and you can file today. Its date of applicability is October 1, 2026, and section 407 of that same law says the VA shall not deny your claim because you filed it before that date. The catch: well-controlled pressure usually lands at 10 percent, which is $180.42 a month, tax free, for a condition you are already being treated for.
Also here: the Blue Water Navy Act of 2019 and the 12-nautical-mile rule for sailors who never went ashore, what to do if you were denied for one of these before it was on the list, and the carve-out that can reach an effective date back to August 10, 2022 for veterans who are 85 or older, terminally ill, homeless, or in extreme financial hardship.
⏱️ CHAPTERS
0:00 - Four conditions the VA presumes
0:32 - What "automatic" actually means
1:04 - Where and when you had to serve
1:33 - Blue Water Navy: the ships offshore
2:10 - How to read every dollar figure here
2:20 - 1. Bladder cancer, and the six-month window
2:44 - The catch: 100 percent is not permanent
3:16 - 2. Hypothyroidism, and the 30 percent clock
4:13 - Parkinsonism, the other 2021 addition
4:28 - 3. MGUS, the one almost nobody has heard of
5:00 - Why a zero percent rating is still worth filing
5:41 - 4. High blood pressure
5:54 - October 1, 2026, and section 407
6:29 - What each hypertension rating pays
7:23 - A question for the comments
7:44 - Denied before it was on the list
8:18 - The early effective date carve-out
8:36 - The whole thing in three moves
9:02 - One plain warning about the sharks
📜 PRIMARY SOURCES
38 CFR 3.309(e) for the presumptive conditions list, and 38 CFR 3.307(a)(6) for the service locations and dates. PACT Act, Public Law 117-168, for hypertension and MGUS, including the October 1, 2026 date of applicability and section 407. Blue Water Navy Act of 2019, Public Law 116-23. 38 CFR 4.115b, diagnostic code 7528, for bladder cancer. VA.gov disability compensation rates, effective December 1, 2025, veteran alone, no dependents.
⚠️ DISCLAIMER
This is general information, not legal or financial advice. I'm not a lawyer or an accredited representative, and what the rules allow for isn't a promise about your own file, which depends on your own record. Filing is free, and it stays free: an accredited Veterans Service Officer, the DAV, the VFW, the American Legion, or your county veterans office will help you at no cost. Anyone who asks for a cut of your back pay to file an initial claim is the one thing here to walk away from.
#VeteransBenefits #AgentOrange #VADisability