The VA Disability Rule That Nearly Changed Everything — And Why Veterans Fought Back

  A proposed VA disability rule could have reshaped veteran benefits nationwide. This episode explains the rule, the backlash, and why advocacy stopped it.

In This Episode:

• VA disability rating rule explained
 • Impact on PTSD and mental health ratings
 • Doug Collins’ decision to halt the rule
 • Why advocacy matters
 • Future of VA policy

Chapters:
00:00 VA Disability Rule Change Explained
 00:59 How the Rule Would Affect Veteran Benefits
 03:38 Doug Collins Stops the Rule
 05:37 Why Veteran Advocacy Matters
 07:33 The Future of VA Disability Policy

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Transcript

What The Rule Would Change

Immediate Halt And VA Statement

Why Advocacy Worked Fast

Bigger Questions On Medication Policy

Community Action And Next Steps

Host Updates And 100-Day Challenge

Contact Info And Closing

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Welcome back to another episode of Security Podcast. As always, I am your host, Dennick Caballero, and this one's gonna be a short one because I just recorded an entire episode about the new VA rule change. And I mean, just just checked my phone less than two minutes ago, and Doug Collins, Doug Collins with the slam dunk, reverses the rules. So let's, for the sake of this, let's revisit what was about to happen. The Department of Veterans Affairs issued a new rule this week that required disability ratings to be based on how well a veteran functions while taking medication instead of how severe the condition is without treatment. New rule was uh titled Evaluation, Evaluative Rating Impact of Medication. Uh and it took effect immediately once they published it. And obviously, before that, before previously, disability ratings often reflected the underlying severity of the condition, regardless of how much medication helped. And under the new rule it was being proposed, that was being proposed to VA examiners would consider how much medication improves a veteran's ability to function, how the condition affects work and daily life while treated. And of course, if it impact disability rating, it would be lower, and your potential compensation would be reduced. And uh, this was tentatively to be applied to new disability claims, specifically focused on PTSD mental health, muscoskeletal injuries, cardiovascular conditions, digestive disorders, um, and so on. And then they stated that it wouldn't affect current veterans or current disability claims. And I mean, as of a few minutes ago, Doug Collins came in and said, Oh, hell no, dog. We are not doing this. Uh, which oddly enough, I was recording a hit piece because of this. And I was just about to start editing that episode when I checked my phone and I saw this. And thank goodness, because I was a bit critical on Doug Collins. And now um, yeah, I'm glad I didn't publish that because I'd have to uh open my mouth and remove the foot from it and then issue uh an apology because Doug Collins came out and said, uh, no, we're halting this. This uh this is not something that we're gonna be rolling out. And it issued uh VA issued a rule, uh uh issued a big wider statement and uh effective this this is what it says. Effective immediately VA is halting enforcement of the interim final rule, evaluating evaluative rating, impact of medication. VA issued a rule to clarify existing policy and protect veterans' benefits in the wake of an ongoing court action, but many interpreted a rule as something that could result in adverse consequences. Uh yeah. While VA does not agree with the way this rule has been characterized, the department always takes veterans' concerns seriously. To alleviate these concerns, VA will continue to collect public comments regarding the rule, but it will not be enforced at any time in the future. Under my leadership, VA is ensuring that everyone applying for benefits receives everything they have earned as quickly and conveniently as possible. This includes reducing the backlog of veterans waiting for benefits by more than 60%. We will continue these improvements on behalf of America's veterans, families, caregivers, and survivors. This is breaking news as of uh today, February 19th at 2 p.m. at the time of the recording. And I will tell you, this is the right move. If you want veterans to feel like they can trust you, if you want veterans to enroll, if you want people to show up and advocate for the care, you have to protect veterans' benefits. You have to. And what this new proposed rule was doing was penalizing veterans for taking their medication, for following their protocols as suggested, and making it feel like the only way possible to get the benefits you deserve and the disability rating you deserve is to not take the medication or to report that it wasn't doing anything for you. Um, because that's certainly what would have happened. That is 100% what would have happened, and I am glad that someone has common sense and is able to step up and say, no, we're not doing this. Um I didn't I didn't have a lot of great words for Doug in the previous episode that I was recording that I'm glad will not be aired because we don't have to. Um I'm glad that people made enough noise and and like I said, our voice matters. Our voice matters as veterans, as advocates, as human beings. If it impacts you, you should say something. And I'm glad that we raised enough hell collectively in the last few hours that somebody was willing to revisit this and say, Yeah, this doesn't make sense. Um I'm glad it's it's not being put in into action because it certainly would have caused a lot of problems. It would have certainly hurt veterans, and I will say this if it would have been allowed, if it would have gone undetected under the radar, like they were doing, it could have had a big impact because I guarantee it wouldn't have just been enforced on new claims, eventually it would have dwindled down and impacted all of us. So it goes to show you folks if you could if you are if you're willing to raise your voice, if you're willing to advocate for yourself, things will change. And and this is, I mean, this is remarkable, right? I mean, this was published, the the proposed changes was just put out on the 17th. Enough people reached out, enough big organizations made enough noise that by February 19th, we have Doug Collins making a formal retraction of this policy. That's huge. I mean, just a few minutes ago I was writing about and and and recording about how this should not go into action, and here we are. I open social media after posting something, and I see the change instantly. That's remarkable. That's amazing, that's a positive, that's a win for today. But we can't stop. There's still a lot of changes that need to be done. I I think the current rating system doesn't work all the way. And while we're at on the subject of medication, let's talk about why we're being prescribed so much. Why are opiates still on the table? Why are heavy narcotics an option? Why aren't we doing more? These are just some of the things that we need to be talking at as a community, as a group of individuals that all stand to win by making bigger changes, by making bigger waves. You know, one of the things this administration had promised and had was a real hard look into plant medicine and how to properly roll that out. And I think that there's more movement that we can do. Certainly there's been some great things, uh, and I'm not trying to take away from that, not trying to take away from the winds, but I will say there's still more work to be done. And now I'm a little bit more hopeful when somebody like Doug Collins is willing to come to the table immediately and acknowledge that this sent a wrong message. I think that there was a lot of uh a lot of I mean, for them to say it's like, oh no, no, it's just being misread, being mischaracter characterized. It's like, no, absolutely not. You're you're you're trying to take money and benefits from service members. But I do appreciate you willing to come out and change this and take a stand. Well, there you have it, folks. Uh, no need to go any longer. That's the breaking news. This will be published tomorrow morning. Um, certainly not going to rush it to put it out this afternoon in case something changes. But let me know what you think. Uh, slide into the DM, slide into the comments. Um, let me know what you're enjoying about this new format, the new mini episodes, and let me know what you're worried about. What are you stressed out in regards to benefits, screenings, pack act, anything at all? Let me know what your ideas are. Let me know what you think should be talked about more in a veteran space, and I'll dive into it because this is what I do, and I'm blessed to be able to do it. But it only works if I talk about something that's impactful and important to you. So let me know. Always available at seccoppodcast at gmail.com or hit me up on Instagram at securityhot pod. I'm always there. I'm always available. And one more thing it's Lent. Uh, it's an important thing for me as uh somebody of faith. And if you're exploring that domain and you want to, you know, join some people in doing something hard and giving some things up, join the hundred-day challenge. I'm on day 19 right now, and uh it's been great. I'm certainly doing a lot more fasting. So right now I'm pretty darn hungry and I still have one more workout to go do right now in the garage gym. But I'm better for it. I'm better for it because I know that I'm finally putting things in proper alignment. So if you want to join us, there'll be a link to the blog post and episode description. Check it out. Let me know what you think. Join us, and I'm about to announce the grand prize. And trust me, you're gonna want to be part of this competition because I'm already put a lot of money behind it. Anyways, thank y'all for tuning in. Thank you for being here, and I can't wait to see you again. Until next time, take care.