ACDC’s 2024 Recommendations to the VA

The Advisory Committee on Disability Compensation (ACDC) just wrapped up their annual meeting for 2024. 

This committee is comprised of subject matter experts in compensation ratings, claims, exams, and more. Their purpose is to provide the VA with informed recommendations on changes and improvements in their disability compensation system that will better ensure that all veterans receive their deserved benefits. 

Historically, ACDC has provided recommendations to the VA that has led to groundbreaking changes, like the discovery that taking aspirin daily can decrease the risk of heart attacks, innovative PTSD treatments, and the service-connection of ALS for Gulf War Veterans, to name a few. 

This year, the committee is making a number of recommendations to the VA. Here are a few highlights:

1. Update the VASRD to replace outdated tests with ones in common use today. The VA has been working for the past 10 years to update the VASRD, and as part of this update, they have already been replacing outdated medical knowledge and practices. This recommendation, though, will continue to encourage these updates on a more regular basis in order to keep the VASRD as current and applicable to modern veterans’ medical needs as possible. 
2. Integrate all online VA benefits services into VA.gov. Just like with the old eBenefits website that is no longer in use, the committee is recommending that the VA bring all veterans benefits to their one online portal through VA.gov. This will enable veterans to have a one-stop shop to access everything they need online relating to the VA. 
3. Create more accountability with C&P Exams, including aligning exam requirements with the BVA. One of the biggest focuses this year was the improvement of C&P Exams to ensure that these vital exams are done correctly the first time. The committee is making a number of recommendations in regards to C&P exams, including instituting better training and compliance. Most importantly, they are recommending that the BVA be brought in to advise on the content of the DBQs used by the examining physicians to ensure that everything needed to rate the conditions is included on these forms. This is actually a huge issue that has been on our radar for years, so it is great to know the VA will be addressing it. Currently, these forms are big and detailed but also often vague in the exact information needed to rate the conditions. Letting the BVA fine tune the DBQs should help the VA better streamline their exams and focus primarily on the information actually needed to properly rate the conditions.

With these and the many other recommendations ACDC is making to the VA this year, we will hopefully be seeing some great changes coming that will improve the disability compensation process and laws and better provide these much-needed benefits to our nation’s veterans.