NewsBytes October 23, 2026
In this issue:
Total Disability Ratings Surge
EHR Gets 15 Fall Upgrades
VA Enrollment Tops 300,000
SEAC Says Employers Overlook Enlisted
Navy Leaders Take Questions Live
Headquarters Cheers On Maria Osby
Total Disability Ratings Surge
The Department of Veterans Affairs' congressional budget submissions include findings that the VA raised veterans' combined disability ratings to 100 percent more than 625,000 times between 2023 and 2025, including 255,751 increases in 2025 alone. Each of those upgrades went to a veteran already receiving disability compensation whose rating rose to the maximum, and over the three-year period VA recorded roughly three increases to 100 percent for every first-time compensation recipient who entered the system at that rating. More than 2 million veterans now hold a 100 percent rating, up 122 percent from about 941,000 in June 2021.
The figures land in the middle of the fight over how to pay for the Major Richard Star Act. The "Take Care of America's Veterans Act" (H.R. 9237 and S. 4744) would fund Star Act relief by eliminating the standalone rating for tinnitus and dropping most sleep apnea evaluations to between zero and 10 percent, a package that failed in the House by a single vote in July and was blocked in the Senate. VA's own budget language points to several drivers behind the growth, and the published counts compare two points in time rather than explaining why individual ratings changed. The number of veterans receiving Individual Unemployability, which pays at the 100 percent rate without changing a veteran's underlying rating, rose only about 3 percent between June 2021 and June 2026.
The FRA cautions Congress against reading this trend as a budget problem to be solved at veterans' expense. A rating increase is awarded under the existing schedule only when medical evidence shows a service-connected condition has worsened enough to meet its criteria, and an aging veteran population is reaching exactly those findings. Consistent with its disability compensation reform agenda, the Association calls on VA to publish what is actually driving the increases, broken out by condition, service era, and pathway, including PACT Act presumptives, secondary service connection, and worsening of existing conditions, so that policy rests on evidence rather than headlines. FRA will oppose any proposal that uses these numbers to justify cutting ratings for tinnitus, sleep apnea, or any other condition Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen earned on flight decks, in engineering spaces, and at small boat stations. Compensation earned by one group of veterans is not a funding source for compensation owed to another.
EHR Gets 15 Fall Upgrades
VA sites operating the Federal Electronic Health Record (EHR) began receiving 15 new or updated enhancements on Sept. 23, the largest set of system improvements since VA started releasing upgrades in October 2022. The changes include an emergency department view that places vital signs, documentation, orders, and key events on a single timeline; a rehabilitation organizer that gives therapy teams a unified view of schedules; and direct integration of point of care ultrasound images into the record, reducing duplicate testing. VA reports the upgrades arrived with little to no downtime and were supported by tip sheets, reference guides, and three "Demos and Dialogue" sessions for clinicians in September.
The release precedes VA's final deployments of the year. The Alaska VA Healthcare System in Anchorage and the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center go live on Oct. 24, bringing the 2026 total to 13 medical centers, and VA is completing a separate set of pharmacy module enhancements at existing sites by the end of October. Oversight continues alongside the rollout. GAO testified in September that VA had fully implemented only four of the 18 recommendations GAO has made on the program, and the House Veterans' Affairs Committee has subpoenaed Oracle Chief Executive Officer Mike Sicilia and Executive Chairman Larry Ellison to testify on Nov. 19 and Dec. 10.
VA electronic health record modernization is the second of FRA's 2026 Legislative Pillars, and the Association welcomes improvements built from the feedback of the clinicians who use the system every day. A record that works for doctors and nurses is a record that protects patients. For Coast Guardsmen, whose records cross a departmental boundary on the way to VA care, an interoperable record matters more than for any other service, and the Anchorage go-live brings it to a region where the Coast Guard maintains a major operational presence. FRA continues to insist that the deployment pace be set by clinical safety rather than contract milestones, and that program cost growth never be absorbed by reducing direct care or clinical staffing.
VA Enrollment Tops 300,000
VA has enrolled more than 300,000 veterans in its health care system so far in 2026, bringing total enrollment above 9 million. Veterans who enrolled this year have completed or scheduled nearly 1.5 million medical appointments, and the department has opened more than 40 new walk-in clinics since January 2025 to keep pace with demand. Enrollment has accelerated steadily through the year, passing 200,000 in July and 250,000 in early September.
The benefits side of the department posted its own record. VA processed 3,111,399 disability claims in fiscal year 2026, topping the prior record of 3,000,734 set in fiscal 2025, and has paid more than $207 billion in compensation and pension benefits this year. The enrollment push matters for more than appointment volume. VA's 2026 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report found that suicide rates among veterans not enrolled in VA care rose 70.8 percent over the 2001 to 2024 study period, while rates among enrolled veterans fell.
The FRA welcomes these gains and urges every eligible Shipmate, particularly those who have recently separated, to treat VA enrollment as a readiness matter rather than a last resort. Enrollment can be completed online at VA.gov/health-care/apply or by calling 1-800-698-2411. The Association will also watch capacity closely. Growth in enrollment must be matched by growth in clinical staffing, or new enrollees will simply join longer waits, and Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen who were promised care deserve to receive it on time.
SEAC Says Employers Overlook Enlisted
Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (SEAC) David Isom told Military.com in an interview published Oct. 22 that corporate America recognizes the value of military officers but may not fully appreciate the capabilities of enlisted service members, who make up more than 80 percent of the joint force. Isom, a career Navy SEAL who enlisted in 1987 and became the military's senior enlisted leader by position in June 2025, described an enlisted force that is highly educated and technically skilled, and leaders that civilian employers are missing.
The SEAC's warning is consistent with what RAND found last month. A Sept. 9 study by the RAND Epstein Family Veterans Policy Research Institute reviewed S&P 500 companies and found that veterans made up just 2.4 percent of new hires at their federal contractor establishments in the 2025 filing cycle, less than half the 5.1 percent national planning benchmark. Nearly 80 percent of those companies described veteran programs on their websites or in corporate responsibility reports, yet they rarely disclosed whether veterans stay, advance, or move into management, and about 60 percent did not mention veterans in their SEC filings at all. The comments also arrive as the Department of War (DoW) and VA work toward deadlines set by the President's Sept. 8 Executive Order on veterans' benefits and employment, which within 180 days requires an overhaul of the Transition Assistance Program so that departing members are connected to specific open jobs matching their skills, or to registered apprenticeships and career and technical education, before they leave active duty.
The FRA agrees with the SEAC, and the RAND findings show his concern is borne out in the data. Enlisted Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen are the backbone of the sea services and of this Association's membership, and a hospital corpsman, a nuclear-trained machinist's mate, or an aviation electronics technician leaves service with skills that a civilian resume screen too often fails to recognize. Meaningful work sits at the center of Restoring the Veteran, the Association's veterans agenda for 2027, which holds that the Sacred Trust is not kept until a veteran is returned to health and to purpose. Corporate goodwill that never becomes a career leaves that work unfinished. FRA supports a transition overhaul that produces real job placements rather than another briefing, urges employers to report the retention and promotion of their veteran hires as RAND recommends, and will press to ensure the Coast Guard, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security, is fully included so that Coast Guardsmen are not left outside a framework written for DoW and VA.
Navy Leaders Take Questions Live
The U.S. Navy Memorial will host two SITREP Speaker Series livestreams next week featuring the Navy's senior officer and senior enlisted leader. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle speaks Monday, Oct. 26, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Eastern, in a wide-ranging conversation on the state of the Navy, the challenges facing the Fleet, and the priorities guiding the service. Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON) John Perryman follows on Wednesday, Oct. 28, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. Eastern. Both events are free and open to the public, and registering at bit.ly/4rOy970 also provides access to the recordings.
The two leaders share a long working history. Perryman served as Caudle's Fleet Master Chief at U.S. Fleet Forces Command before becoming the 17th MCPON, and his priorities of Sailors and families first, technical mastery at every level, and continuous development are built to reinforce the CNO's framework of Foundry, Fleet, and Fight. The sessions come as the Fleet absorbs record deployment lengths, a deep maintenance backlog, and a presidential directive to rebuild the nation's shipbuilding industrial base.
The FRA encourages Shipmates to tune in and to bring their questions. The issues the Association has pressed throughout this deployment cycle, including predictable deployment lengths, reliable logistics and mail for forward deployed crews, and confidential, career-safe mental health care at sea, are the issues these two leaders own. Hearing directly from them is the best way for members to understand where fleet leadership is headed and where FRA's advocacy is needed most.
Headquarters Cheers On Maria Osby
FRA Headquarters is sending its full support to Maria Osby, who runs the 51st Marine Corps Marathon this Sunday, Oct. 25. Known as "The People's Marathon," the 26.2-mile race winds through Arlington and Washington, D.C., before finishing at the Marine Corps War Memorial.
Maria has spent weeks balancing her responsibilities at Headquarters with long training miles, showing the same discipline and resilience that define the sea service community. Whether she is responding to a wide range of calls over the phone or pushing past mile 20 toward the finish, she represents the best of this team.
The FRA family is behind you, Maria. Run strong, and enjoy every step to the finish line.