VA has rescinded a controversial new rule, passed just last week, that would change how veteran disability ratings are calculated. Public outcry from veterans, veteran groups, and lawmakers led to the swift reversal.
Last week VA implemented the new rule that would gauge a disability by the veteran's condition while on medications rather than their base condition without medication. VA director Doug Collins argued that this merely clarified existing procedures, but many in the veteran community saw this change as a threat to benefits. Many feared that with the new rule, many veterans would cease taking vital medications out of concern that doing so could jeopardize their benefits. Veterans of Foreign Wars National Commander Carol Whitmore issued a statement saying:
Disabled veterans should never be forced to choose between following their doctor’s orders and protecting their earned benefits. This interim rule puts that stability at risk, and it must be withdrawn.
Although the rule has not been officially rescinded, Collins publicly stated that VA will not enforce the rule. It is not clear if VA can fulfill that promise or if they are even capable of rescinding the new rule. The rule came about due to a lawsuit (Ingram vs. Collins) where a VA medical examiner did not consider the effect of over the counter pain medications when assessing a veteran. Because VA does not explicitly have a rule stating how medications can affect a disability rating, the plaintiff won the case. The new rule was intended to prevent reassessments and similar lawsuits in the future.
According to VA, the biggest challenge of assessing a disability sans medication lies in the fact that they cannot ask someone to stop taking the medication for an assessment. Without doing so, they claim such assessments would be speculative on the part of the examiner. VA also claims that without the new rule, they would be forced to re-adjudicate over 350,000 pending claims.
Veteran advocates, on the other hand, claim that VA is attempting to use the rule to circumvent paying veterans fully earned benefits that court decisions have affirmed in veterans' favor.
Public comments on regulations.gov regarding the rule will be open until April 20th. You can also read the full text of the rule there. | 
