VA Disability Compensation Rules: How Public Comments Shape Them | Rulemaking 101

Transcript

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Welcome to Federal Register Daily, part of our Rulemaking 101 series. Today we're talking about VA disability compensation rules, the rules that decide how much veterans get paid for service-connected conditions. We'll look at a real interim final rule that took effect immediately, why it drew so many public comments, and why VA rescinded it just ten days later. Then we'll walk through a standard rulemaking example, so you can see how a proposal becomes a final rule after comments come in. If this is your first time here, hit subscribe so you don't miss how these rules affect real benefits.

VA's disability ratings come from something called the Schedule for Rating Disabilities, or VASRD. It lives in Title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 4, and VA updates it through rulemaking, the same public process we cover every episode. In February 2026, VA used that process to change one of its core rules, section 4.10, about how examiners judge a veteran's functional impairment. VA said the amendment clarifies that veterans should be compensated for the actual level of functional impairment they experience, and that the ameliorative effects of medication should not be estimated or discounted when evaluating the severity of a veteran's disability at the time of the exam. In other words, VA wanted veterans rated on the impairment they actually have, with treatment, rather than on an estimate of how severe it would be without treatment.

Quick recap: VA's disability ratings live in 38 CFR part 4, and in February 2026 VA changed a core rule about how medication affects a veteran's rating.

Why the rush? VA pointed to a court decision, Ingram versus Collins, decided in 2025. VA said the regulation was needed immediately to minimize the negative impact of an erroneous line of cases culminating in the recent decision of Ingram v. Collins. VA warned that Ingram could touch over 500 diagnostic codes and force re-adjudication of more than 350,000 pending claims. Because VA said the rule was needed immediately, it used a special tool: an interim final rule, which skips the usual comment-first step and takes effect right away.

Quick recap: VA said a 2025 court decision, Ingram v. Collins, threatened hundreds of thousands of pending claims, so it acted immediately instead of waiting for comments first.

That's the key difference from a normal proposed rule. Normally you comment before a rule takes effect. Here, the interim final rule took effect February 17, 2026, the day it was published, and VA accepted comments until April 20, 2026. So the change to section 4.10 was already the law the day it published, and the public was invited to comment afterward. And comment they did. As of April 10, 2026, Regulations.gov showed 20,880 public comments on this single rule, a huge response.

Quick recap: this rule took effect the day it was published, with comments accepted afterward, and Regulations.gov lists 20,880 public comments.

Ten days after the rule took effect, VA reversed course. On February 27, 2026, VA published a final rule rescinding the interim rule and restoring the prior text of section 4.10. VA explained what happened, saying VA always takes veterans' concerns seriously and recognizes that many commenters construed the interim final rule as something that could result in adverse consequences. VA skipped notice and comment for the rescission too. It said leaving the rule in place during a lengthy rulemaking could undermine confidence in the benefits system, and that the rescission restores the prior text to maintain stability without resolving the legal questions now before the courts.

Quick recap: VA rescinded the rule just ten days later, noting that many commenters saw it as something that could result in adverse consequences, and restored the prior text.

Now let's see what a standard VA rulemaking looks like, from start to finish, using the Digestive System rule. In January 2022, VA proposed changes to sections 4.110 through 4.114. The proposal would add medical conditions not currently in the rating schedule, revise the rating criteria to reflect medical advances that have occurred since the last revision, clarify existing rating criteria, and update medical terminology. VA gave the public until March 14, 2022 to comment, and Regulations.gov lists 22 comments on that proposal.

Quick recap: VA proposed updates to the digestive system ratings in 2022, based on medical advances, and the public had until March 14 to weigh in.

Two years later, in March 2024, VA published the final rule, effective May 19, 2024. And you can see comments actually changing the outcome. On stricture of the esophagus, one commenter pointed out a mismatch in how often dilatation treatments were required at different rating levels. VA responded, VA agrees and revises the 30% criteria to only include recurrent esophageal strictures while the 50% criteria will reference both recurrent and refractory esophageal strictures. That's the process working as intended: a comment catches a problem, and the final rule fixes it.

Quick recap: in the final digestive system rule, VA agreed with a commenter's point and adjusted the esophagus rating criteria before finalizing it.

That's how VA disability rules get made and changed, sometimes fast in an emergency, usually slower with full notice and comment. Thanks for watching Federal Register Daily. Subscribe so you catch the next episode of Rulemaking 101. Tell us in the comments about your experience with VA claims or ratings, or a question you have. And keep an eye on VA's open proposed rules at regulations.gov, because your comment can genuinely change the final text.