A key timetable is approaching for proposed changes to how the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) evaluates several disabilities, including sleep apnea and tinnitus, with consequences for veterans’ claims and the future of a major bill in Congress. VA told Congress in January that it anticipated publishing final disability rating rules covering respiratory and auditory conditions by the end of fiscal year 2026. Fiscal year 2026 ends September 30, but the federal page for the sleep apnea and tinnitus changes still identifies them as a proposed rule.
Any final criteria could affect future claimants, while existing recipients have protections against reductions based solely on a rating schedule change. Newsweek contacted VA for an updated rulemaking timetable, and sought comment from the Senate and House Veterans’ Affairs committees, Senator Richard Blumenthal, the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and The American Legion on the potential impact on veterans’ disability benefits and H.R. 9237. No responses were forthcoming by the time of publication, but will be added as and when received.
The proposed VA rules have become tied to the unresolved debate over H.R. 9237, a broad package containing health care, compensation, caregiver and survivor provisions. Whether VA publishes, delays or substantially revises the rules could affect both future disability claims and the assumptions behind the bill’s contested funding structure. VA evaluates service-connected disabilities under the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities, commonly known as the VASRD.
Ratings are intended to reflect the average reduction in earning capacity caused by injuries or medical conditions connected to military service. In January testimony before the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, Tann said the department was completing the first comprehensive update of the schedule since 1945. VA had finished updates for 11 of the schedule’s 15 body systems and had published proposals for the remaining four: mental disorders, respiratory conditions, ear conditions, and neurological and convulsive disorders.
That wording establishes an agency timetable, not a legal deadline. It also leaves open whether all three rulemakings will be published by September 30 and whether their final criteria will match the 2022 proposals. Committee material advocating for the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act subsequently described the timetable more firmly, saying the rules would be finalized by September 30.
Another committee release used October 1. VA’s underlying testimony, however, said only that the department anticipated publication by the end of the fiscal year. As of September 1, 2026, the Federal Register page supplied for the respiratory and auditory changes continues to label the document a “proposed rule.” It said VA proposed revising sections covering the ear, nose, throat, audiology and respiratory systems to reflect modern terminology, medical advances and clinical practice.
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