Your Medication Shouldn’t Cost You Your Disability Rating

On February 17, the Department of Veterans Affairs published a new rule that could reduce disability compensation for millions of veterans — and it took effect immediately, with no public input.

What Changed

VA Secretary Doug Collins signed an interim final rule amending 38 CFR § 4.10, the core regulation that governs how the VA evaluates disability. The new language says:

“If medication or other treatment lowers the level of disability, the rating will be based on that lowered disability level.”

In plain English: if your medication helps you, the VA will now rate you as if you’re less disabled. Not based on the severity of your underlying condition — but based on how well your pills are working today.

What This Means for Veterans

Here’s the choice this rule forces on veterans: take your medication and lose your disability payment, or stop taking your medication to keep the rating you need to pay your mortgage.

As Michael Figlioli of the VFW told Task & Purpose: “You’re now going to put some of these veterans at risk because they potentially could stop taking their medication.”

This affects veterans with conditions ranging from PTSD and depression to chronic pain, hypertension, and musculoskeletal injuries. The VA itself admits the rule impacts over 500 diagnostic codes and 350,000 pending claims.

Consider a veteran with severe PTSD who takes antidepressants. Under the old standard, the VA would evaluate the underlying severity of the condition. Under this new rule, if the medication is working, the VA rates you at the medicated level — even though stopping that medication would send you into crisis.

How They Did It

The VA skipped the normal rulemaking process. Federal agencies are supposed to publish proposed rules, accept public comments, and revise based on feedback. Secretary Collins invoked a “good cause” exception, claiming that allowing public comment was “impracticable and contrary to the public interest.”

The Disabled American Veterans called it a rule “developed and issued in a closed and unnecessarily expedited process” that denied veterans any voice.

There is a 60-day comment period — but it opened after the rule already took effect. Comments are due by April 20, 2026. The public comment system at regulations.gov (search RIN 2900-AS49) reportedly had broken links at launch.

The 500-Mile Question

Reports indicate the VA may also flag veterans who have traveled more than 500 miles from their home station for automatic reprocessing — under the theory that traveling long distances suggests “doctor shopping” for favorable diagnoses. But what about veterans who simply moved? Who got transferred? Who went to see a specialist at a facility that actually had staff?

At Hampton VA, where half the mental health beds are closed due to nursing shortages, veterans already travel farther than they should have to for basic care. Punishing them for it is unconscionable.

What You Can Do

1. Submit a public comment at regulations.gov — search for RIN 2900-AS49. Comments are due April 20, 2026.
2. Call your representative.
   • Rep. Bobby Scott (VA-03): (757) 380-1000 — bobbyscott.house.gov/contact
   • Rep. Jen Kiggans (VA-02): (757) 364-7650 — kiggans.house.gov/contact

   Tell them: “I’m a VA employee/veteran concerned about the new disability rating rule. The VA should not be reducing veterans’ disability compensation because their medication is working. This rule needs to be withdrawn.”

3. Talk to your coworkers. Many veterans who work at the VA are also receiving disability compensation. This affects our colleagues, our patients, and our families.

The Bottom Line

This administration has spent the last year trying to strip VA workers of their union rights, close facilities, slash staffing, and now — reduce the disability compensation that veterans earned with their service. The message is clear: they want to spend less on the people who gave the most.

We will not be silent about it.

Sources: Task & Purpose, DAV, Federal Register