Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich., makes remarks at a hearing of a subcommittee of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee on Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — A federal watchdog warned lawmakers that the Department of Veterans Affairs needs to fully revise the 80-year-old criteria for awarding disability payments or risk miscalculating benefits for millions of veterans.
The VA administers one of the nation’s largest disability compensation programs — providing $195 billion in compensation in fiscal year 2025.
But criteria the VA developed in 1945 do not align with modern medicine, employment and the impact of disabilities on a veteran’s earnings potential, the Government Accountability Office testified at a subcommittee hearing of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Wednesday.
Elizabeth Curda, GAO director of education, workforce, and income security, testifies at a House Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee hearing on Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
“Without a rating schedule that fully reflects present-day changes in medicine and the labor market conditions, VA may overcompensate some veterans while undercompensating others,” said Elizabeth Curda, GAO director of education, workforce, and income security.
Disability ratings in 2026 are based on physicians’ and lawyers’ judgments from 80 years ago about service-connected disabilities and average earnings losses from disabilities, according to findings in a GAO report issued Wednesday before the hearing.
The report was titled “VA Disability Benefits: Progress Made but VA Decisions on Veterans’ Claims Continue to Be Based, in Part, on Outdated Criteria.”
VA’s management of disability compensation claims has been on GAO’s “High-Risk List” since 2003.
“Given the size of and investment in the program, VA must be able to make accurate decisions about veterans’ disability claims,” according to the report.
The subcommittee raised concerns about the outdated medical and earnings loss data, as well as a lack of oversight of disability exams primarily conducted by private contractors.
“In 1945, my dad was just mustering out of the military,” said Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Mich., a retired Marine Corps lieutenant general. “We are using that date here in current data. It scares the hell out of me. This is a ball of bureaucratic string.”
Nina Tann, VA’s executive director for compensation service, said the agency has made progress updating medical information on service-connected injuries and illnesses affecting 11 of 15 “body systems.”
The VA also published proposed rules for the remaining four areas, covering mental health disorders, as well as medical conditions affecting respiratory, auditory and neurological systems, Tann said.
The agency anticipates publishing the final rules by the end of fiscal 2026.
But as of January, VA had not updated a second set of data related to earnings loss, according to the GAO. Earnings loss is the average decrease in expected earnings caused by specific disabilities.
“Consequently, ratings determinations for all earnings loss calculations remain based on information from 1945,” according to the GAO.
Rep. Morgan McGarvey, D-Ky., urged the VA to also seek feedback from veterans as it updates the criteria for determining disability benefits.
Kyleanne Hunter, CEO of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, testifies at a House Veterans Administration hearing on Jan. 14, 2026, in Washington. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
Kyleanne Hunter, CEO of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, echoed those comments, saying that “veterans’ voices should be included at the table.”
The medical problems of post-9/11 veterans include traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder, which were not widely recognized decades ago, Hunter said.
