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The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) amends the portion of the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities that addresses neurological conditions and convulsive disorders. These amendments will incorporate medical advancements that have occurred since the last revision, update current medical terminology, and provide clear evaluation criteria.

Statement of Need:

Similar to 2900-AQ72, this final rule will update the VASRD to incorporate medical advancements that have occurred since the last revision, update current medical terminology, and provide clear evaluation criteria for neurological conditions and convulsive disorders.

Summary of the Legal Basis:

38 U.S.C. 1155. VA will revise 38 CFR 4.120 through 4.124a that address neurological conditions and convulsive disorders.

Alternatives:

VA cannot update the VASRD through non-regulatory action. VA could choose to leave the VASRD criteria as is, but failure to update the criteria would result in continued application of outdated medical, scientific, and economic data in the evaluation of disabilities. Applying outdated criteria could render disability evaluations inadequate, inaccurate, and, in some cases, in conflict with current medical and economic understanding of disability. This would result in inadequate assessment of disabilities and lead to reduced efficiency in claims processing and delivery of benefits, as VA could not rely on modern medical records (when available) to quickly assess impairment due to a neurological condition or convulsive disorder. Alternatively, VA could only update the portions of the neurological rating criteria that are most out of date, but this piecemeal approach could lead to the same problems as outlined above for the criteria that would not be updated. This approach would fail to maximize efficiency in claims processing and delivery of benefits.

Anticipated Costs and Benefits:

The total budgetary impact is estimated to be a savings of $838 million over five years and $3.3 billion over 10 years.

Risks:

By processing claims for compensation benefits using outdated criteria, VA risks overcompensating or undercompensating Veterans for these service-connected conditions.