VA Proposed Rating Reduction: What to Do Next

A proposed reduction is a proposal, not a final decision. Under 38 CFR 3.105(e), before VA can reduce or discontinue compensation currently being paid, it must first send a notice explaining the material facts and reasons, and give you 60 days to submit additional evidence showing your rating should stay at its current level. If you do not respond within that period, VA takes final rating action and the reduction becomes effective, generally rounded to the end of a later month rather than the day the 60 days ends. If you do respond with evidence, VA must consider it before deciding anything.

Separately from submitting evidence, 38 CFR 3.105(i) gives you 30 days from the notice to request a predetermination hearing. This is the single most protective step available to you: if you timely request a hearing, your benefit payments are continued at their previously established level while the hearing and final determination are pending. Requesting a hearing does not guarantee the reduction will not happen, but it does mean your payments do not drop while the process plays out.

Read the notice for its specific stated deadlines; the summary below describes the general regulatory minimums, not a guarantee of your notice's exact dates. Within 30 days: decide whether to request a predetermination hearing, since this is what keeps your payments unchanged while VA decides. Within 60 days: gather and submit any evidence showing your condition has not improved to the degree VA's proposal describes, such as recent treatment records or a current exam. Throughout: keep a copy of the notice and everything you submit, and consider contacting an accredited Veterans Service Officer, claims agent, or attorney, since a proposed reduction is a formal action with real consequences.

VA cannot reduce a rating simply because one exam shows some improvement. Under 38 CFR 3.344(a), the rating agency must find it reasonably certain that the improvement will be maintained under the ordinary conditions of life, meaning while working or living normally, not just under exam conditions. An examination that is less thorough than the one that established your current rating cannot be used as the basis for a reduction.

Ratings in place for 5 years or more at the same level receive the heightened material-improvement protection above, under 38 CFR 3.344(c). Ratings continuously in place for 20 years or more receive a stronger protection under 38 CFR 3.951(b): they cannot be reduced below that level at all, except upon a showing that the original rating was based on fraud, and this same 20-year, fraud-only protection also extends to permanent total pension ratings. These are separate protections; a rating can qualify for one, both, or neither depending on its history.

Regulations do not explicitly state whether the 5-year and 20-year clocks apply to an individual disability's rating history or to the combined overall percentage. Sections 3.105(e), 3.344(c), and 3.951(b) use singular language such as 'a service-connected disability,' pointing toward individual evaluation histories. How this applies across multiple combined ratings remains a nuanced legal issue best evaluated with an accredited representative.

If you have a total rating based on Individual Unemployability and you return to substantially gainful employment, 38 CFR 3.343(c)(2) provides that your rating may not be reduced solely because you secured and followed that occupation unless you maintain it for 12 consecutive months. Short interruptions in that employment do not necessarily break the 12-month count.

The consequence of missing a scheduled VA exam depends on your claim type, under 38 CFR 3.655. For an original compensation claim, missing the exam without good cause generally means VA rates the claim based on the evidence already in your file, not an automatic denial. For a reopened claim, a claim for increase, or most other claim types, missing the exam without good cause generally means the claim is denied. For an existing running award being reexamined, VA must send a pretermination notice and generally allow 60 days to indicate willingness to report or to submit evidence before payment is discontinued or reduced.

If VA issues a final reduction decision, the decision letter explains review options and deadlines. Official decision review pathways include Higher-Level Review, Supplemental Claims, and Board Appeals.