URGENT: New VA Rule Threatens to Slash Disability Ratings Based on Medication Use

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has just issued a sweeping Interim Final Rule (91 FR 7118) that fundamentally changes how disability ratings are calculated. Effective immediately, the VA will now evaluate your level of disability based on your "medicated state" rather than the underlying severity of your service-connected condition.

What This Means for You

For years, legal precedents like Jones v. Shinseki and the more recent Ingram v. Collins protected veterans from being penalized for taking their medicine. The courts ruled that the VA must rate a veteran based on their "baseline" condition—not a "hypothetical" healthy version of themselves created by temporary symptom suppression.

This new rule wipes those protections away. Under the new regulation:

• Ratings are based on "Present Functioning": If your medication is working effectively to mask pain, anxiety, or physical limitations during an exam, the VA can use that "improvement" to justify a lower disability rating.
• The "Ingram" Protections are Gone: The VA specifically designed this rule to bypass the Ingram v. Collins decision, which required medical examiners to consider what a veteran’s disability would look like without medication.
• Impact on Pending Claims: This rule applies to all claims decided on or after February 17, 2026. If you have a claim currently in the system, your rating could be lower than expected if you are successfully managing symptoms with treatment.

Why the Union Veterans Council is Fighting Back

This is a direct attack on the financial security of all veterans, including the 1.3 million veterans in the unionized workforce. We believe that a service-connected injury is a permanent debt owed by the nation. That debt does not decrease just because a veteran is diligent about following a treatment plan.

By tying compensation to "medicated functioning," the VA is essentially creating a "wellness penalty." Veterans who successfully manage their PTSD, chronic pain, or heart conditions shouldn't have to worry that their recovery will lead to their family losing their disability check.

TAKE ACTION

The VA bypassed the normal public comment period to make this rule effective immediately, claiming it was necessary to avoid an "administrative burden." We believe the only "burden" here is the one being placed on the backs of disabled veterans.

You can share comments here on this rule: Regulations.gov