We Don’t Want Handouts. Just Honor The Contract.
I’m a 100% P&T Navy submarine veteran. My rating is protected. This isn’t about me.
This is about the 34-year-old Marine who did everything right—served in Fallujah, came home with PTSD and TBI, takes his medication, goes to therapy, tries to function—and is about to have his benefits stripped because “your meds are working.”
We signed a contract.
We said: “I’ll serve. I’ll go where you send me. I’ll do what you ask. And if I come home broken, you’ll take care of me.”
They’re breaking that contract.
Not with honesty. Not with transparent policy changes. Not with public debate.
With mental warfare.
VA Secretary Doug Collins posts on Facebook: “What the Democrats won’t tell you: The rule simply formalizes VA’s longstanding practice – since 1958.”
This is a lie.
The rule was published February 17, 2026. It reverses a court decision from March 2025. There was no “1958 practice.” This is gaslighting.
Here’s what they’re actually doing:
They changed the rule so that if your medication works, you “appear functional.” Then they’ll use that to deny new claims and reduce existing ratings.
Take your meds like your doctor says? Lose your benefits. Stop taking your meds to stay symptomatic? That’s fraud. Pay a claim shark $10,000 for “help”? That’s exploitation.
There’s no good option built into their system.
This is what happens when you treat veterans like budget line items instead of people who honored their contract.
What They Don’t Understand
Post-9/11 veterans aren’t the silent generation. We’re not writing polite letters to congressmen and hoping for the best.
We’re 2.8 million combat veterans in our 30s and 40s. We know how to organize. We know how to plan operations. We know how to execute under pressure.
And we’re connected—Reddit, Facebook, local networks, instant communication.
When you strip benefits from people with PTSD and TBI, when you gaslight them about “longstanding practices,” when you break the contract they signed in good faith—you’re not just creating frustration.
You’re creating organized resistance.
What We Actually Want
We don’t want handouts.
We don’t want sympathy.
We don’t want to game the system.
We want fair ratings based on what actually happened to us during service and how it actually affects our daily lives.
If my medication helps but I still can’t work full-time—rate that honestly.
If my PTSD is managed but I still have panic attacks—rate that honestly.
If my TBI symptoms are controlled but I still have memory issues—rate that honestly.
Just honor the fucking contract.
The Alternative They’re Not Considering
They could do this transparently. Public comment periods. VSO input. Honest communication about methodology changes.
They’re not doing that.
They’re using emergency rulemaking to bypass public input. They’re gaslighting veterans about “longstanding practices.” They’re setting up a system that punishes compliance with medical treatment.
This is a choice.
And it’s the wrong one.
What I’m Building
I built TrackMySymptoms because I needed it for my own MS journey—30 years from 30% to 100% P&T, documented honestly the whole way.
Then I realized: younger veterans are about to get destroyed by this rule change. They need a way to document functional limitations WITH medication. Evidence, not anecdotes. Patterns, not stories.
$40/month, not $10,000 to a claim shark.
Honest documentation, not rating games.
Protection through evidence, not exploitation.
This is what you do when the system breaks the contract: you build the tools to fight back smart.
To Doug Collins
You’re underestimating who you’re fucking with.
We’re not asking for special treatment. We’re asking you to honor the deal.
Keep pushing, and you’ll find out what happens when you break contracts with people who know how to organize, plan, and execute operations.
We just want what we earned.
Stop the mental warfare.
Honor the contract.