Sen. Blumenthal Introduces Bill to Stop VA From Lowering Disability Ratings Due to Successful Treatment
This bill is currently in the early stages of the legislative process after being sent to the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs for review. It is considered active, but no further hearings or votes have been scheduled at this time.
Scores run from -100 (strongly harmful) to +100 (strongly beneficial) for each group, combining impact, certainty, scope, and duration ratings of 1-5. How impact scoring works
Veterans with service-connected disabilities would no longer risk having their disability ratings reduced because their treatment is working well. This is especially important for veterans managing chronic conditions like PTSD, chronic pain, or diabetes — conditions that require ongoing medication. Their ratings would be based on the severity of their underlying condition without treatment, protecting their monthly compensation even when medication keeps symptoms under control.
“The schedule of ratings adopted and applied under subsection (a) shall be constructed to discount the beneficial effects of medication or treatment, when evidence can be used to establish a baseline without those beneficial effects.”
Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Introduced in Senate
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
Senator Richard Blumenthal and Representative Derek Tran introduced the Carlton H. Ingram Veterans’ Benefits Protection Act to ensure the VA awards compensation based on the true severity of a disability, requiring the agency to ignore the positive effects of medication during evaluations.
A news release detailing the introduction of the Carlton H. Ingram Veterans’ Benefits Protection Act, which aims to thwart future attempts to implement policies that reduce veteran benefits based on symptom improvement from medication.
No votes recorded for this bill yet.
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
Carlton H. Ingram Veterans’ Benefits Protection Act
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