A court ruling that prevents the VA from downgrading disability ratings based on effective medical treatment will stand thanks to the department’s decision last month to end its appeal.

The 2025 ruling by U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in favor of Army veteran Carlton Ingram ensures that “unless the VA’s own rating schedule says otherwise, the VA must not give a lower disability rating to a veteran because they take medication that helps treat their condition,” according to an April 6 press release from the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP), which represented Ingram.

MOAA and other veteran advocacy groups called for the VA to end its legal fight in February, after the department published, then rescinded, a rule the department said would “clarify existing policy and protect veterans’ benefits in the wake of an ongoing court action.”

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MOAA disagreed with that interpretation of the rule, saying instead that it “fails to account for treatment burdens, creates harmful incentives, destabilizes access to benefits, and was promulgated without adequate public input.”

More Work Ahead

MOAA appreciates the decisions to rescind the rule and drop the appeal, and looks forward to continued dialogue to ensure that service-connected disability ratings are never reduced due to the effects of treatment.

It should also be made clear that keeping to a treatment plan will not result in a lower disability rating, ensuring veterans are not incentivized to skip treatments prior to evaluations or otherwise risk their health to preserve service-earned benefits.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) recently introduced the Carlton H. Ingram Veterans’ Benefits Protection Act (S. 4140) to codify the discounting of the beneficial effects of medication or treatment when determining a disability rating. This legislation recognizes that using medication to cope with chronic illness, injury, or disease is not the same as an improvement in the condition itself.

MOAA will continue to engage with the VA on this and other veterans’ concerns, and will work with lawmakers throughout the upcoming budget process to ensure the department has the resources to provide health care and benefits to our nation’s veterans.