Effective October 1 - 4 More VA Rating Rules Are Changing. Hearing, Breathing, Mental, Nerves.
Frank Sutherland
38,142 views
Get The Veteran's Benefits Playbook here: https://seniorfinance.gumroad.com/l/va-ben...
Join The Veteran's Benefits Community (first week free): https://www.skool.com/veterans-benefits-co...
The VA is rewriting the book it uses to decide every disability rating in this country. Fifteen body systems, and eleven of them are already finished. The four that remain are auditory, respiratory, mental health and neurological, and the VA testified to Congress that all four will be complete by the end of the fiscal year. That date is September 30, which puts them in effect October 1. Between them those four cover the majority of every claim veterans file. In this video I explain what the rating schedule actually is, whether this can be used to cut your check, and what to do in the weeks you have left.
Here is what we cover:
What the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities is, in plain English
Which eleven body systems are already done and what happened to those veterans
The four that are left and why they touch the most veterans in America
Whether a schedule change can reduce a rating you already hold
The twenty year rule that locks a rating permanently
Why protected is not the same as positioned for an increase
The mental health changes, the five areas of functioning and the scores that support 70 and 100
The zero percent mental health rating being replaced by a 10 percent minimum
What to do now depending on whether you are rated, pending, at zero, or have never filed
Everything here is tied to real sources, including 38 CFR 3.951 on preservation of disability ratings, the VFW statement to the House Committee on Veterans Affairs published January 14 2026, the VA proposed rule on the mental disorders rating schedule, and the Federal Register notice for the musculoskeletal revision effective February 7 2021.
One honest note. The mental health framework described here is a proposed rule with a target date, not a rule in effect today. Nobody's rating changed this morning.
Knowing how to describe your condition in the language new criteria are looking for is exactly what The Veteran's Benefits Playbook is built for.
Get the full playbook on ratings, evidence and effective dates: https://seniorfinance.gumroad.com/l/va-ben...
I am a veteran advocate, not an attorney and not a VA employee. This video is general information, not advice for your specific situation.
#veteran #vabenefits #vadisability #varating #veterans
13 Comments
Proposed Domain Breakdown for 100% and 70%Under the proposed rules, impairment in five domains (Cognition, Interpersonal Interactions, Task Completion, Navigating Environments, and Self-Care) is scored from 0 to 4. The thresholds work as follows:100% Rating: Requires a Level 4 in one or more domains OR a Level 3 in two or more domains.70% Rating: Requires a Level 3 in one domain OR a Level 2 in two or more domains.
So if this holds true, you could have 2 domains rated at 3 and achieve essentially a level 4 or 100%. I do not think it stacks though, so two 2s making a 3 plus having a 3 already won't make a level 4, it'll just be 70% still. (I could be wrong, maybe they will make it like that). The main benefit is two threes would make 100% instead of 70%. And two 2 twos would make 70%.
The stacking (which I don't think is going to be applied) would work where four 2s would not make two 3s and those two 3s would not make a 4 or 100%. It would just be 70% per the first rule of two 2s being equivalent to a 3's 70% rating. And I'm not sure if two 1s will make a 2-equivalent or 50% rating (assuming a 2 is 50% to begin with, I don't now if that's what a 2 is worth).
The video appears titled “4 More VA Rating Rules Are Changing. Hearing, Breathing, Mental, Nerves” and references four remaining areas: auditory/hearing, respiratory/breathing, mental health, and neurological/nerves.
What is true: VA rulemaking for those areas is real. The 2026 Unified Agenda lists these as Final Rule Stage items: Ear, Nose, Throat and Audiology / Respiratory, Neurological Conditions and Convulsive Disorders, and Mental Disorders.
What is misleading: Final Rule Stage does not mean the new rating criteria are already effective. Reginfo currently shows Mental Disorders with a projected Final Action 08/00/2026, but the ENT/Audiology/Respiratory rule and the Neurological rule show projected Final Action 04/00/2027, not October 1, 2026.
For mental health specifically, the current eCFR still shows the existing VA mental-disorder rating formula: 0%, 10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, and 100% based on occupational and social impairment. It still lists suicidal ideation under the 70% examples and total occupational and social impairment under 100%. VA did propose major changes back in 2022 for respiratory, auditory, and mental disorders, including changes to sleep apnea, tinnitus, and mental-health evaluation criteria. VA also stated that veterans already receiving compensation for service-connected conditions in those body systems would not have their existing ratings impacted merely because the schedule is updated.
Bottom line:
The claim that VA rating rules are being rewritten is true. The claim that all four are definitely effective October 1 is not confirmed by the official rulemaking. s
YOU need to be VERY SPECIFIC...
NOT just "VA"...
SPECIFICALLY... the "VBA"...!!!
THAT... is WHO... makes these bogus decisions about who gets VA benefits
...!!!
The healthcare professionals at the "VHA" have no say... no imput... and are only there to provide the best "healthcare" to Veterans that the VBA says is eligible for benefits...!!!
Too MANY Veterans arriving at VHA facilities with negative attitudes and hostility... from the door... at the get-go... with the healthcare professionals simply trying to provide care to the Veterans that the "VBA" told them qualifies...!!!!!
Those healthcare professionals have NO SAY... don't make ANY determinations about which Veterans get seen... or how much "disability"... they get paid...!!!
Strive to be clear... concise... about where disability is determined...!!!
Thanks...
This is from a "service connected" Airborne Combat Medic with 3 combat deployments... who finally recieved "service connection" in 2019... after applying in 1995 intermittently until 2022.
The "VBA" is the problem...
NOT... the "VHA"...!!!!
Most Veterans conflate the two separate and distinct agencies...!!!
Do... Better...
PLEASE...!!!
🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡
The change to sleep apnea is to get rid of the automatic 50% for just having a CPAP. After the change, sleep apnea will finally be rated by the disability, rather than the device used to treat the disability. This should help reduce the number of CPAPs the VA hands out and the number of CPAPs that wind up in the dumpster when the veteran figures out they are getting a ratings increase because they have a CPAP
The mental health changes could be very helpful provided the VA actually investigates the veteran and actually verifies the effects of the mental health disability according to the criteria. It should help prevent veterans from claiming the are deficient in all 5 categories and yet they go to work every day as a systems engineer for Lockheed Martin.
There is not a lot of information about the respiratory stuff, but hopefully the changes will stop veterans from wasting their time at the pulmonary clinic trying to cough their way up to a 100%, only to be disappointed when their claim is denied, even though the VA recognized the jet fuel and asbestos exposure, but never actually exposed to jet fuel and asbestos. The TERA screenings have caused an uptick in veterans claiming respiratory disabilities and it is now impossible to get an appointment at the VA pulmonary clinic.
Effective October 1 - 4 More VA Rating Rules Are Changing. Hearing, Breathing, Mental, Nerves.
Frank Sutherland
38,142 views
Get The Veteran's Benefits Playbook here: https://seniorfinance.gumroad.com/l/va-ben...
Join The Veteran's Benefits Community (first week free): https://www.skool.com/veterans-benefits-co...
The VA is rewriting the book it uses to decide every disability rating in this country. Fifteen body systems, and eleven of them are already finished. The four that remain are auditory, respiratory, mental health and neurological, and the VA testified to Congress that all four will be complete by the end of the fiscal year. That date is September 30, which puts them in effect October 1. Between them those four cover the majority of every claim veterans file. In this video I explain what the rating schedule actually is, whether this can be used to cut your check, and what to do in the weeks you have left.
Here is what we cover:
What the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities is, in plain English
Which eleven body systems are already done and what happened to those veterans
The four that are left and why they touch the most veterans in America
Whether a schedule change can reduce a rating you already hold
The twenty year rule that locks a rating permanently
Why protected is not the same as positioned for an increase
The mental health changes, the five areas of functioning and the scores that support 70 and 100
The zero percent mental health rating being replaced by a 10 percent minimum
What to do now depending on whether you are rated, pending, at zero, or have never filed
Everything here is tied to real sources, including 38 CFR 3.951 on preservation of disability ratings, the VFW statement to the House Committee on Veterans Affairs published January 14 2026, the VA proposed rule on the mental disorders rating schedule, and the Federal Register notice for the musculoskeletal revision effective February 7 2021.
One honest note. The mental health framework described here is a proposed rule with a target date, not a rule in effect today. Nobody's rating changed this morning.
Knowing how to describe your condition in the language new criteria are looking for is exactly what The Veteran's Benefits Playbook is built for.
Get the full playbook on ratings, evidence and effective dates: https://seniorfinance.gumroad.com/l/va-ben...
I am a veteran advocate, not an attorney and not a VA employee. This video is general information, not advice for your specific situation.
#veteran #vabenefits #vadisability #varating #veterans
🎖️ Join the Community (first week free): https://www.skool.com/veterans-benefits-community