Attorney & Advocate Partnership Program

The VA is proposing to reduce VA Form 21-526EZ, the primary application for disability compensation, from 15 pages to 5 pages, with the simplified version projected for release by December 2026. The change is intended to reduce paperwork—not alter the evidence required to establish service connection, secondary service connection, or disability severity. Veterans should continue using the current form and should not delay filing, because waiting for the shorter version could affect the effective date of future benefits.

38 CFR 3.310(d) does not create new TBI presumptives; it provides a secondary service-connection pathway for certain conditions linked to an already service-connected TBI, subject to specific severity and timing requirements.

The VA rates asthma under 38 CFR § 4.97, Diagnostic Code 6602, at 10%, 30%, 60%, or 100%. Every tier is written with the word "or," which means you only need to meet one criterion at each level, not all of them. That is why your prescription bottle often matters more than your spirometry printout. Daily use of an inhaled anti-inflammatory medication like Symbicort, Advair, or Flovent meets the 30% criteria on its own, even when your breathing test comes back normal. Documented prednisone bursts at least three times a year meet the 60% criteria the same way.