22Apr
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) announced it would pause a final rule (RIN 2900-AS49), which would change how disability ratings are calculated. Under the new rule, disability ratings are based on a veteran’s “actual” functional level while medicated. In practice, that means veterans whose conditions are controlled by ongoing treatment—but not cured—could see their disability ratings, and potentially their compensation, reduced.
Common Defense, the nation’s largest grassroots veteran organization, urges the VA to abolish this ruling altogether. By prioritizing VA administrative efficiency over veteran-centered justice, the rule risks lowering ratings for millions who rely on medication for conditions like chronic pain, mental health disorders, and musculoskeletal injuries stemming from military service.
In response, Common Defense Executive Director and US Army Veteran, Jose Vasquez released the following statement:
“This rule sends the wrong message to veterans and their families. Disability compensation exists because service leaves lasting impacts. Those impacts don’t disappear just because a prescription helps manage the symptoms. Tying disability ratings to how well a condition is controlled by medication ignores a basic reality: many of us will rely on treatment for the rest of our lives. That ongoing care is part of the injury. It’s part of the cost of service.
Veterans should never be placed in a position where seeking treatment could jeopardize the benefits they earned. That undermines trust in the very system designed to serve us.
Common Defense calls on the VA to rescind this rule entirely and recommit to a veteran-centered approach. The promise made to veterans must be kept.”
Common Defense urges veterans and allies to submit public comments demanding the VA abolish the rule by April 20, 2026, via regulations.gov (docket RIN 2900-AS49), and calls on Congress and the VA to withdraw or revise it to preserve fair, pro-veteran evaluations.
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Common Defense Civic Engagement (501c4) (CDCE) is a grassroots, veteran-led organization that was founded in 2016. We empower veterans to stand up for our communities against the rising tide of racism, hate, and violence, to organize against the entrenched powers that have rigged our economy, and to champion an equitable and representative democracy, where “liberty and justice” truly is for all. For too long, politicians from both political parties have attempted to use veterans as unwilling political props, and Common Defense serves as a home for veterans to organize and speak for themselves and support the candidates who truly share our values.