Democratic members of Congress pressed the Department of Veterans Affairs to officially rescind a controversial new rule on the assessment of disability ratings after VA Secretary Doug Collins pledged that the rule “will not be enforced at any time in the future.”
Collins said Feb. 19 on the social media platform X that the VA “is halting the enforcement of the interim final rule,” which took effect Feb. 17, the same day of the rule’s announcement in the Federal Register.
The rule changes how the VA assesses functional impairment, directing medical examiners that if medication lowers the level of a disability, "the rating will be based on that lowered disability level." Veterans’ disability ratings determine their level of compensation.
In the Federal Register announcement, the VA said it intended to override “erroneous” court interpretations. Under those rulings, medical examiners rated disabilities on baseline severity, factoring in medication’s benefits only if the specific rating criteria for that condition mentioned medication.
Read More: New VA Rule Ties Disability Ratings to Medicated Symptoms, Drawing Fire From Veterans Groups
Rep. Mark Takano (D-California), ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, said in a statement Feb. 18 that the new rule “penalizes veterans for taking medications to address their conditions and symptoms, putting veterans in a place of deciding between managing their health and receiving their full benefits.”
Collins called Takano’s comment “fake news!” in a post on X that same day, stating that the rule “simply formalizes VA’s longstanding practice.”
But by Feb. 19, the VA had received additional feedback in the form of thousands of public comments lodged at regulations.gov under docket RIN 2900-AS49.
In his Feb.19 post reversing course and pledging never to enforce the rule, Collins said the department “does not agree with the way this rule has been characterized” and that calling off the enforcement is instead to “alleviate” veterans’ concerns.
As of early on the morning of Feb. 20, the rule had received more than 10,600 comments. Collins said the VA will continue to accept comments for the duration of the public comment period, which ends April 20.
Collins’ announcement was met with applause by the likes of Disabled American Veterans National Commander Coleman Nee but also the insistence by others that the VA must officially rescind the rule.
“Halting enforcement is not enough. This rule is wrong, and it should be rescinded immediately,” Rep. Tim Kennedy (D-New York) replied on X. “As an occupational therapist, I know recovery depends on following medical guidance, not being penalized for it.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) said on X that he’s encouraged that Collins has “temporarily walked away from this short-sighted policy to slash disability benefits for thousands of veterans” but that it “must be permanently rescinded.”
-- Additional reporting by Brandon Wile
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