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Congress·In Committee·S. 4140

Carlton H. Ingram Veterans’ Benefits Protection Act

Sen. Blumenthal Introduces Bill to Stop VA From Lowering Disability Ratings Due to Successful Treatment

7 days ago·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

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.

Legislative Progress

Senate
House
President
Law

Key Points

  • This bill changes how the VA calculates disability ratings by requiring the agency to ignore the positive effects of medication or treatment. Veterans would be rated based on how severe their condition would be without treatment, as long as a baseline can be established.

    From policy text

    “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.”
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  • The goal is to prevent veterans from losing disability benefits simply because their treatment is working. Under current practice, if a veteran's symptoms improve with medicine, the VA can lower their disability rating — and their monthly check. This bill would stop that.
  • The bill also protects veterans' ability to claim compensation for new health problems caused by their treatment. If medication for a service-connected condition causes side effects or new disabilities, veterans can still seek additional benefits.

    From policy text

    “Paragraph (1) shall not be construed to preclude a veteran from seeking compensation for additional disabilities resulting from medication or treatment for an underlying injury suffered or disease contracted in line of duty”
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  • Introduced by Sen. Blumenthal with six co-sponsors including Sens. Duckworth, Murray, Sanders, and others, the bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

    From policy text

    “Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. King, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Sanders, and Ms. Baldwin) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs”
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VeteransHealthcare

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

Scores: 1 = low, 5 = highSentiment: -5 to +5 (net benefit)

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions
Mar 19, 2026Senate

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Mar 19, 2026

Introduced in Senate

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

Carlton H. Ingram Veterans’ Benefits Protection Act

Bill NumberS 4140
Congress119th Congress
ChamberSenate
Latest ActionRead twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
Read Full Bill Text

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(6)
D: 4I: 2

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.