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Carlton H. Ingram Veterans’ Benefits Protection Act
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs schedule for rating disabilities, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill amends the Department of Veterans Affairs disability rating schedule to require that ratings be based on a veteran's condition without accounting for the beneficial effects of medication or treatment. The bill specifies that the VA should establish a baseline rating by considering how a disability would present without medication or treatment. The bill clarifies that veterans are not prevented from seeking additional compensation if their medications or treatments cause new disabilities or aggravate existing service-connected conditions. This change aims to ensure that veterans receiving effective treatment for service-connected disabilities do not have their disability ratings reduced because their medications or treatments manage their symptoms.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
7 cosponsors
- Sen. Baldwin, Tammy [D-WI] (D-WI)
- Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL] (D-IL)
- Sen. Gallego, Ruben [D-AZ] (D-AZ)
- Sen. King, Angus S., Jr. [I-ME] (I-ME)
- Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA] (D-WA)
- Sen. Rosen, Jacky [D-NV] (D-NV)
- Sen. Sanders, Bernard [I-VT] (I-VT)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Richard Blumenthal’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- APOLLO GLOBAL MANAGEMENT $9,500
- FREEPOINT COMMODITIES LLC $6,600
- ALIX PARTNERS $6,600
- PALANTIR $6,600
- KRUX INC. $6,600
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Richard Blumenthal → · Outside spending →
Actions (3)
- Apr 29, 2026 Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held. · senate
- Mar 19, 2026 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. · senate
- Mar 19, 2026 Introduced in Senate
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Committee action
What happened to this bill in committee — the meetings where it was considered and every recorded vote taken on it.
Meetings where this bill was on the agenda
Full text
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 19, 2026
Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Ms. Duckworth, Mr. King, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Sanders, and Ms. Baldwin) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs schedule for rating disabilities, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Carlton H. Ingram Veterans’ Benefits Protection Act”.
SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS SCHEDULE FOR RATING DISABILITIES.
Section 1155 of title 38, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in the first sentence, by striking “The Secretary” and inserting the following:
“(a) In General.—The Secretary”; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
“(b) Beneficial Effects of Medication or Treatment.—(1) The schedule of ratings adopted and applied under subsection (a) shall be constructed to discount the beneficial effects of medication or treatment, when evidence can be used to establish a baseline without those beneficial effects.
“(2) Paragraph (1) shall not be construed to preclude a veteran from seeking compensation for additional disabilities resulting from medication or treatment for an underlying injury suffered or disease contracted in line of duty, or for aggravation of a preexisting injury suffered or disease contract in line of duty, in the active military, naval, air, or space service.”. <all>
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