The 2026 medication rating rule and its rescission

VA's longstanding practice, shaped by case law including the Veterans Court's decision in Jones v. Shinseki, is that raters generally may not deny or reduce a rating based on relief provided by medication unless the specific rating criteria contemplate medication. The interim final rule published February 17, 2026 attempted to reverse that framework by amending 38 CFR 4.10 to direct raters to evaluate a disability as it presents with treatment in place.

The rule took effect immediately as an interim final rule, skipping advance public comment. Veteran service organizations objected that it would quietly lower ratings for conditions like hypertension, asthma, epilepsy, and mental health conditions, where medication masks the underlying severity. VA halted enforcement within days, and on February 27, 2026 published a rescission that restored the prior text of 38 CFR 4.10 effective immediately.

VA framed the interim rule as a clarification of 38 CFR 4.10 that corrected what it viewed as judicial misinterpretation. The rescission followed within ten days because the practical effect would have been rating reductions across many common conditions, and because issuing the change as an immediately effective interim rule bypassed the notice and comment process that a change of that scale normally receives.