A week after the Department of Veterans Affairs published an interim final rule that would have lowered disability compensation for millions of military veterans, the VA announced Thursday it is rescinding it.
The interim final rule, “Evaluative Rating: Impact of Medication,” would have allowed the VA, effective immediately, to rate veterans based on how they function with medication and treatment, instead of how their condition actually affects them.
Before the rule was removed from the Federal Register, more than 19,000 comments from veterans and advocates had been submitted. Most of them criticized how the change would have impacted their health and finances.
Related: A new VA disability rule may lower millions of veteran disability ratings
The interim final rule was initially posted February 17.
“VA remains committed to its mission of ensuring that every claimant applying for benefits—especially veterans who have earned disability compensation through their honorable service to the Nation—receives all benefits to which they are entitled under the law as expeditiously as possible,” the VA said in its post Thursday.
“To ensure that VA can fulfill this mission while maintaining the trust and confidence of our Nation’s veterans, as well as their families, caregivers, and survivors, the Department hereby advises that the interim final rule is rescinded effective immediately.”
The decision came after the backlash caused by the VA’s initial decision, which it reached without input from veterans and despite what courts have decided.
The VA did not follow normal procedure with its initial posting.
Normally, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs would classify the VA’s new rule as “a major rule” under the Congressional Review Act, because its estimated annual cost is more than $100 million. Major rules must be submitted to Congress and the Government Accountability Office, and they can’t take effect until at least 60 days after submission.
But the VA claimed it had good cause under 5 U.S.C. 808 (2) to forgo the 60-day review and publish an interim final rule, meaning it would have taken immediately.
That rule ran counter to at least two prior judicial rulings.
In 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims decided in Jones vs Shinseki that unless the rating criteria specifically mentioned medication, the VA could not reduce a rating only because medication improved symptoms.
The court’s 2025 decision in Ingram vs Collins extended the Jones decision to musculoskeletal conditions and required examiners to attempt to determine a “baseline severity” if the veteran didn’t take medication.
“Immediate rescission ensures continuity in adjudication and preserves the status quo” the VA wrote in its updated post. “This action does not resolve the legal questions now before the courts; it simply restores prior regulatory text to maintain stability.”
Blake Stilwell contributed to this report.
