What Is a VA Benefits General Medical Exam? Prep, Visit, Rating

A VA Compensation and Pension exam, usually shortened to C&P exam, is the medical evaluation the VA schedules after you file a disability claim to decide whether your condition is connected to your military service and how severe it currently is.¹ Your disability rating comes out of what the examiner writes down, and that rating sets your monthly compensation for as long as you hold it. The exam is free. Skipping it can cost you the claim.

What the Exam Actually Is

A C&P exam is an evaluation, not a treatment visit. The provider will not prescribe medication, order follow-up care, or refer you to a specialist.¹ The whole point is to gather medical evidence so a VA rater can decide your claim. Veterans who show up expecting a normal doctor’s appointment often leave frustrated because the encounter feels clinical and short. That is by design.

There is no copay for the exam, and any tests the examiner orders, including labs, X-rays, or imaging, are also free to you.² Your priority group and existing rating do not change that.

Who Will Contact You

Your examiner might be a VA clinician, but often it will be a provider working for one of the VA’s contract companies. The VA uses outside firms to keep claims moving. The authorized contractors right now are Loyal Source Government Services (LSGS), OptumServe Health Services (OSHS), Leidos QTC Health Services (QTC), and Veterans Evaluation Services (VES).¹ They follow the same licensing standards and privacy rules as VA staff.

If a contractor handles your exam, the phone call or letter setting the appointment will come from that company, not from your local VA. Some veterans throw those communications away thinking they’re spam. Don’t. A missed C&P appointment has real consequences, covered below.

How to Prepare

Pull up your claim and confirm exactly which conditions you filed for. The exam will center on those, and you need to be able to speak to each one clearly.

Bring copies of your relevant medical records, both VA and private, even if you already uploaded them. Files get misplaced. Then write out a symptom log that covers:

When the symptoms started, tied to specific service dates or periods when you can
How often they occur, whether daily, weekly, or triggered by certain activities
How bad they get on your worst days, not your average ones
How they affect your work, household tasks, sleep, and relationships

The single most common mistake veterans make in a C&P exam is downplaying their symptoms. Nobody wants to sound like they’re exaggerating, so people describe their condition on a good day, sitting still in a clean exam room, feeling fine. The rater then sees a mild picture and rates accordingly. If your knee locks up some mornings and you can’t walk a block, say so. Describe your condition at its worst, because that’s what the rating schedule is built around.

For reproductive health, breast, rectal, or mental health exams, you can request a male or female provider.¹ Ask as early as possible so scheduling can accommodate it.

What Happens at the Appointment

The provider reviews your claims file, then asks detailed questions about the conditions you listed. Those questions typically follow a Disability Benefits Questionnaire, or DBQ, that is specific to your condition.¹ The DBQ is a standardized checklist that keeps every veteran with the same type of claim measured against the same criteria. Whatever the examiner writes on that form travels to the rater who decides your claim.

Depending on the condition, you may get a physical exam, additional tests such as X-rays or blood work, or a psychological evaluation. Some exams are hands-on. Some are almost entirely conversational. Length varies. If your file already contains strong medical evidence, the examiner may only need to confirm current severity, and the visit can be short.

The examiner also spends time on your file outside the appointment. After you leave, they write a medical opinion on whether your condition is at least as likely as not connected to your service and document how severe it is now.

What Happens If You Miss It

Missing a C&P exam without a good reason can wreck your claim, and the exact damage depends on what you filed. For an original compensation claim, the VA will rate you based only on the evidence already in your file, which usually isn’t enough to earn a fair rating. For a supplemental claim, a reopened claim, or a claim for an increased rating, missing the exam means outright denial.³

The VA will reschedule if you can show good cause. Accepted reasons include hospitalization, a death in your immediate family, homelessness, or a terminal illness.¹ If you know ahead of time you can’t make it, call the VA or the contractor that scheduled you. A no-show without contact is the worst option.

How the Exam Turns Into a Rating and a Check

The examiner’s findings feed straight into the VA’s rating decision. Disability ratings are assigned in 10-percent increments from 0% to 100% based on how much your condition reduces your average earning capacity.⁴ That rating becomes a tax-free monthly payment. For 2026, a single veteran with no dependents receives $552.47 per month at 30%, $1,132.90 at 50%, and $3,938.58 at 100%.⁵ At 30% and above you also get additional compensation for a spouse, children, or dependent parents.

The gap between a 30% and a 50% rating is close to $600 every month. That is why the quality of your C&P exam matters so much. A thorough, well-documented exam gives the rater what they need to rate you accurately.

Getting the Results and Waiting for a Decision

After the exam, the provider’s report and medical opinion go to a VA rating specialist, who reads it against your service records, medical history, and any other evidence in the file. As of early 2026, the VA is completing disability claims in an average of about 76.6 days from filing.⁶ Complex cases and cases where the VA needs more evidence take longer.

If your exam was at a VA facility, lab work and some reports may show up on My HealtheVet within a few days. The full C&P report, including the examiner’s medical opinion, lives in your claims file rather than your medical record, so it usually won’t appear there. Contractor exams typically won’t appear in the portal at all. To get the complete exam report, submit a Privacy Act request on VA Form 20-10206, selecting “Disability Examinations (C&P Exams)” under Item 17 and listing the date of your exam.⁷ Reading the report before your rating decision comes back lets you catch errors while there is still time to act.

Travel Reimbursement

You may qualify for mileage reimbursement for travel to your C&P exam through the VA’s Beneficiary Travel program. The current rate is 41.5 cents per mile.⁸ File the claim within 30 days of the appointment. Late claims are usually denied.⁹

If the Exam Got It Wrong

A rushed or incomplete exam isn’t the end of the road. If the VA issues a decision you disagree with, you have three review paths:¹⁰

A Supplemental Claim, where you submit new and relevant evidence the VA has not yet seen. A private medical opinion (sometimes called a nexus letter) contradicting the examiner, updated treatment records, or buddy statements all qualify.¹¹
A Higher-Level Review, where a more senior VA reviewer looks at the same evidence for errors. No new evidence is added.
A Board Appeal, where a Veterans Law Judge at the Board of Veterans’ Appeals reviews your case. You choose whether to submit new evidence and whether to have a hearing.

Higher-Level Reviews and Board Appeals must be filed within one year of the date on your decision letter. Supplemental Claims have no strict deadline, but the effective date of any increase depends on when you file, so waiting costs money.¹⁰ If you believe the exam itself was inadequate, a Supplemental Claim with a strong outside medical opinion is usually the most effective route.

1
Veterans Affairs. VA Claim Exam (C&P Exam)
2
Veterans Affairs. Current VA Health Care Copay Rates
3
eCFR. 38 CFR 3.655 – Failure to Report for Department of Veterans Affairs Examination
4
eCFR. 38 CFR Part 4 – Schedule for Rating Disabilities
5
Veterans Affairs. Current Veterans Disability Compensation Rates
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Veterans Affairs. The VA Claim Process After You File Your Claim
7
Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Form 20-10206 – FOIA or Privacy Act Request
8
Veterans Affairs. Reimbursed VA Travel Expenses and Mileage Rate
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Veterans Affairs. File and Manage Travel Reimbursement Claims
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Veterans Affairs. Choosing a Decision Review Option
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Veterans Affairs. Supplemental Claims