Veterans exposed to Agent Orange can receive tax-free monthly VA disability compensation ranging from $180.42 to $3,938.58 in 2026, along with VA health care, a free registry health exam, and separate benefits for spouses, survivors, and certain children. The core advantage in these claims is the VA’s presumption system: if your service and your diagnosis both fit the recognized categories, you do not have to prove that Agent Orange caused your illness.
Who the VA Presumes Was Exposed
You do not need to document personal contact with herbicides. If your service falls into one of the categories below, the VA treats exposure as established:
- Service in the Republic of Vietnam, including its inland waterways, between January 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975.
- Blue Water Navy service aboard a U.S. military vessel operating not more than 12 nautical miles seaward from the demarcation line of the waters of Vietnam and Cambodia during the same period.
- Service in or near the Korean Demilitarized Zone between September 1, 1967, and August 31, 1971.
- Service at any U.S. or Royal Thai military base in Thailand from January 9, 1962, through June 30, 1976.
- Air Force and Air Force Reserve personnel who had regular contact with contaminated Operation Ranch Hand C-123 aircraft.1U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Agent Orange Exposure and Disability Compensation
For C-123 crews, the VA uses specific qualifying units and Air Force specialty codes to confirm eligibility.2Department of Veterans Affairs. C-123 Aircraft Agent Orange Exposure and Disability Compensation
Conditions the VA Links to Agent Orange
If your service fits a presumed-exposure category and you develop one of the diseases below, the VA skips the step that normally requires a doctor’s opinion tying the illness to service. The PACT Act of 2022 added hypertension and monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) to the list.3U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. About the PACT Act and VA Benefits
- AL amyloidosis
- Bladder cancer
- Chronic B-cell leukemias, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia and hairy-cell leukemia
- Chloracne or similar acneform disease
- Diabetes mellitus type 2
- Hodgkin’s disease
- Hypertension
- Hypothyroidism
- Ischemic heart disease
- Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS)
- Multiple myeloma
- Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- Parkinson’s disease and Parkinsonism
- Peripheral neuropathy, early-onset (acute and subacute)
- Porphyria cutanea tarda
- Prostate cancer
- Respiratory cancers of the lung, larynx, trachea, and bronchus
- Soft tissue sarcomas other than osteosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma, or mesothelioma
Three of these carry a timing rule: chloracne, porphyria cutanea tarda, and early-onset peripheral neuropathy must have been at least 10 percent disabling within one year of herbicide exposure to qualify for the presumption.4Veterans’ Diseases Associated with Agent Orange. Veterans’ Diseases Associated with Agent Orange – VA Public Health If your diagnosis is not on the list, you can still file, but you will need medical evidence linking the condition to your service.
What the VA Pays: 2026 Rates
Approved claims get a rating from 10 to 100 percent based on how much the condition limits your functioning, and that rating sets your monthly, tax-free payment. VA disability compensation is exempt from federal tax by statute.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 5301 – Nonassignability and Exempt Status of Benefits The rates below are for a single veteran with no dependents, effective December 1, 2025, and apply throughout 2026. Add-ons apply if you have a spouse, children, or dependent parents.6Veterans Affairs. Veterans Disability Compensation Rates
- 10%: $180.42
- 20%: $356.66
- 30%: $552.47
- 40%: $795.84
- 50%: $1,132.90
- 60%: $1,435.02
- 70%: $1,808.45
- 80%: $2,102.15
- 90%: $2,362.30
- 100%: $3,938.58
How Multiple Conditions Combine
Many Agent Orange claimants have more than one qualifying condition. The VA does not simply add ratings. It uses a whole-person calculation: the second rating is applied against the healthy percentage left after the first, and the final number is rounded to the nearest 10 percent. Two 50 percent ratings do not combine to 100.7Veterans Affairs. About Disability Ratings
Total Disability Based on Individual Unemployability
If your service-connected conditions prevent substantially gainful employment but your combined rating is under 100 percent, Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU) can still pay the full 100 percent rate. You generally need either a single service-connected disability rated at 60 percent or higher, or a combined rating of 70 percent or more with at least one condition rated at 40 percent.8VA News. Individual Unemployability: Understanding the Basics
How to File a Claim
The application is VA Form 21-526EZ, the Application for Disability Compensation and Related Compensation Benefits. Submit it online at VA.gov, by mail, or in person at a VA regional office.9Department of Veterans Affairs. About VA Form 21-526EZ Include your DD-214 or other separation documents and any private medical records that show a diagnosis of a presumptive condition.
Submitting all evidence up front lets the VA process the claim through the Fully Developed Claim (FDC) program, which is typically faster. There’s a real trade-off. If you send in additional evidence after filing, the VA moves your case out of the FDC track. Choosing the FDC route does not change the benefits you’re entitled to.10Veterans Affairs. Fully Developed Claims Program
After you file, the VA may schedule a Compensation and Pension (C&P) exam. It is not treatment. The examiner reviews your records, does a basic physical assessment, and works through a standardized questionnaire about how the condition affects daily life. That report drives your rating, so it matters. If you miss the exam, the VA can decide on whatever’s already in the file, which often means a lower rating or a denial. Call to reschedule if a serious reason keeps you from attending.11Veterans Affairs. VA Claim Exam (C&P Exam)
Effective Dates and Back Pay
Your effective date decides when benefits start accruing and how much retroactive pay you get. When a new condition is added to the presumptive list, as hypertension and MGUS were under the PACT Act, timing matters. File within one year of the law or regulation taking effect and the effective date can reach back to the date the law changed. File more than a year later and the effective date may only go back up to one year before the VA received your claim.12Veterans Affairs. Disability Compensation Effective Dates
If you are not ready to file a complete claim, submit an Intent to File on VA Form 21-0966. That locks in a potential effective date and gives you one year to gather records, get a diagnosis, and complete the full application. If approved, retroactive payments can go back to the intent-to-file date rather than the date you submitted the completed claim. Only one intent to file can be active at a time, and it applies only to the benefit type you name.13Veterans Affairs. Your Intent to File a VA Claim
VA Health Care and the Agent Orange Registry Exam
Compensation and health care are separate tracks. You can apply for both. Enrollment in VA health care uses VA Form 10-10EZ, which asks about service and finances.14Department of Veterans Affairs. How To Apply For VA Health Care Veterans who qualify under the herbicide exposure criteria may land in a higher priority group and may be exempt from certain financial disclosures and copays.
The Agent Orange Registry health exam is free and does not require enrollment in VA health care. It includes an exposure history interview, a medical history review, a physical exam, and any tests the clinician thinks are needed. A VA health professional discusses the findings with you and sends a follow-up letter. The exam will not confirm exposure, and it is not a disability compensation exam. Its purpose is medical surveillance and early detection. Family members are not eligible. To schedule one, contact your local VA Environmental Health Coordinator.15VA Public Health. Agent Orange Registry Health Exam for Veterans
Benefits for Spouses, Survivors, and Children
Dependency and Indemnity Compensation
If a veteran dies from a service-connected condition, which includes any of the Agent Orange presumptive illnesses, a surviving spouse may qualify for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC). The base 2026 rate is $1,699.36 per month, tax-free.16Veterans Affairs. Current DIC Rates For Spouses And Dependents
To qualify as a surviving spouse, you must have lived with the veteran without a break until their death, or the separation must not have been your fault, and you must meet at least one of these: you married the veteran within 15 years of their discharge from the period when the qualifying condition started, you were married for at least one year, or you had a child together. Unmarried surviving children under 18 (under 23 if in school) may also qualify. Surviving parents with limited income have a separate DIC benefit. The form is VA Form 21P-534EZ.17Veterans Affairs. About VA DIC For Spouses, Dependents, And Parents
Children Born With Birth Defects
Biological children of veterans who served in Vietnam or near the Korean DMZ and were born with spina bifida (other than spina bifida occulta) may qualify for a monthly monetary allowance, lifetime health care, and vocational training. The application is VA Form 21-0304.18Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Form 21-0304 – Application for Benefits for a Qualifying Veteran’s Child Born with Disabilities
A broader program covers certain other birth defects in the biological children of women who served in Vietnam between February 28, 1961, and May 7, 1975. Covered conditions include neural tube defects, congenital heart disease, cleft lip and palate, hip dysplasia, and more than a dozen others. Children must have been conceived after their mother first entered Vietnam. Conditions caused by family disorders or birth-related injuries are excluded.19VA Public Health. Birth Defects in Children of Women Vietnam Veterans
Burial Benefits
For deaths occurring on or after October 1, 2025, the VA burial allowance is $1,002 toward burial costs and $1,002 toward a plot. Higher amounts may apply when the death is service-connected.20Veterans Affairs. Veterans Burial Allowance And Transportation Benefits
If Your Claim Is Denied
A denial is not the end. You have three appeal options, and the right one depends on what went wrong.
Supplemental Claim
File a Supplemental Claim if you have new and relevant evidence the VA has not already reviewed and it relates to the reason for the denial. A new medical opinion, updated treatment records, or previously unsubmitted service records all count.21Department of Veterans Affairs. Decision Review Request: Supplemental Claim
Higher-Level Review
Choose Higher-Level Review if you believe the VA erred on the evidence already in your file. A senior reviewer looks at the same record and decides whether a mistake or difference of opinion changes the result. You cannot submit new evidence, but you can request one optional informal conference, a phone call to point out specific factual or legal errors. Selecting this option may extend processing time.22Veterans Affairs. Higher-Level Reviews23Veterans Affairs. What’s An Informal Conference And How Do I Ask For One?
Board Appeal
A Board Appeal sends your case to a Veterans Law Judge at the Board of Veterans’ Appeals. Three tracks:
- Direct review: existing evidence only, no hearing, target decision timeline 365 days.
- Evidence submission: new evidence within 90 days of filing, target 550 days.
- Hearing: video, in person in Washington, D.C., or virtual tele-hearing, with new evidence allowed at or within 90 days after the hearing, target 730 days.
Board appeals take longer, but they put a judge on the case rather than a claims processor, which can matter when exposure circumstances or medical evidence are disputed.24Veterans Affairs. Board Appeals
Free Help Filing
You do not have to handle this alone. Veterans Service Organizations such as the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, and Veterans of Foreign Wars have accredited representatives who help file disability claims, gather evidence, and pursue appeals at no charge. Accredited attorneys and claims agents can also help but may charge fees. To appoint a VSO representative, submit VA Form 21-22 online, by mail, or at a VA regional office. The VA’s online search tool lists accredited representatives.25Veterans Affairs. Get Help From A VA Accredited Representative Or VSO Bringing in a representative before the initial claim tends to produce better outcomes than trying to repair problems after a denial.