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By Suzanne Blake
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A new VA rule change has some veterans up in arms over how their disability compensation will now be calculated.
The Department of Veterans Affairs implemented a new rule that stipulates that disability levels will be based on how well veterans function while on medication, instead of the underlying disability or injury itself.
This could lower payments for many veterans in need, veteran advocates argue. One financial expert told Newsweek that this could put those with conditions such as pain, seizures, mental health, blood pressure, and migraines at risk for having their monthly disability checks decrease, based on how well their meds work.
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Another, Michael Ryan, told Newsweek the "VA is now treating symptom suppression as recovery, even when that ‘recovery’ depends on fragile, long-term medication regimens, complex side-effects, and ongoing costs that VA compensation was meant to help absorb."
"This action will have no impact on any veteran’s current disability rating," Peter Kasperowicz, VA press secretary, told Newsweek in an emailed statement.
Why It Matters
The new rule, effective now, will impact how VA rates veterans' disabilities when they file new claims and have their disabilities evaluated during doctor exams.
If their disability levels are rated lower because of how well they function on medication, payment amounts could decrease dramatically for millions of disabled veterans across the country.
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What To Know
The VA stated in a new notice that the changes would go into effect, likely changing disability levels for thousands, if not millions.
"If medication or other treatment lessens the functional impairment a disability causes and thereby improves a veteran’s earning capacity, that is the proper disability level for which the veteran should be compensated," the VA said.
While the public comment period for the rule opened Tuesday and runs through April 20, many veterans have already been vocal about how the rule could cause harm for those facing disabilities as a result of serving their country.
The new rules determine disability rating based on "how you’re doing on your present medication, not how bad your condition is without it," the Veterans VA Benefits and Claims Assistance group said on Facebook.
"Disability ratings are now explicitly based on how a veteran functions with medication or treatment, not on how severe the condition would be without it," Michael Ryan, a finance expert and the founder of MichaelRyanMoney.com, told Newsweek.
"Examiners are directed to rate the ‘lowered’ level of disability if meds or treatment improve symptoms and quality of life."
Currently, the VA pays out roughly $150 billion in disability benefits yearly, and disability determination ratings play a major role in how much is sent out.
"Anyone whose condition is well-controlled by medication is at risk of lower ratings on new or increased-rating claims," Ryan said. "Pain, seizures, mental health, blood pressure, migraines. This doesn't trigger automatic cuts across the board, but it changes the starting point for future exams and pending claims. VA will treat ‘you on meds’ as the true disability level."
What People Are Saying
VA Press Secretary Peter Kasperowicz told Newsweek in an emailed statement: "This regulation simply formalizes VA’s longstanding practice of determining disability ratings based on Veterans’ service-related disabilities and any medications they are taking to treat those disabilities.
"VA has been determining disability ratings this way since 1958. Further, this action will have no impact on any Veteran’s current disability rating."
The VA said in its notice: "If medication or other treatment lessens the functional impairment a disability causes and thereby improves a veteran’s earning capacity, that is the proper disability level for which the veteran should be compensated."
Michael Ryan, a finance expert and the founder of MichaelRyanMoney.com, told Newsweek: "The gap between medicated and unmedicated life is where this gets brutal. A veteran who can barely function without meds but can hold a basic job with them gets rated based on the medicated version. A vet whose migraines or PTSD symptoms are debilitating off meds but appear 'manageable' on their current regimen gets the lower rating. The rule effectively penalizes treatment adherence by tying compensation to how well the veteran manages to function, not to the underlying severity of the service-connected condition."
What Happens Next
Structurally, this rule marks a great shift at the VA for disabled veterans, Ryan said.
"VA is now treating symptom suppression as recovery, even when that ‘recovery’ depends on fragile, long-term medication regimens, complex side-effects, and ongoing costs that VA compensation was meant to help absorb," Ryan said.
"You're not less disabled because meds work. You're managing a chronic condition that requires ongoing treatment to function. The rule pretends those are the same thing. They're not."
Update, 02/19/26, 06:35 a.m. ET. This article has been updated with a VA statement.
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