VA Rating Reductions: Legal Protections Every Veteran Should Know
Posted by Gregory M. Rada | August 07, 2026 | Disability Compensation
Few things cause more anxiety for a veteran than opening a letter from VA proposing to reduce a disability rating. The immediate fear is understandable: lower rating means lower compensation, and for veterans relying on that income, a reduction can be financially devastating. But VA cannot simply lower your rating whenever it wants. Federal regulations impose strict procedural requirements and substantive protections that limit when and how VA can reduce a rating. Many proposed reductions are legally deficient, and veterans who understand the rules and respond properly can often prevent the reduction from taking effect. This post covers the due process requirements VA must follow under 38 C.F.R. § 3.105(e), the legal protections that apply based on how long a rating has been in place, and what to do when you receive a proposed reduction notice.
Table of Contents
- Due Process: What VA Must Do Before Reducing Your Rating
- The 5-Year Rule: Sustained Improvement Required
- The 10-Year Rule: Service Connection Is Locked
- The 20-Year Rule: Your Rating Percentage Is Protected
- Additional Protections: 100% Ratings and TDIU
- What to Do When You Get a Proposed Reduction Notice
- How to Challenge a Reduction That Already Happened
Due Process: What VA Must Do Before Reducing Your Rating
Before VA can reduce a disability rating that results in lower compensation payments, it must follow the procedural requirements in 38 C.F.R. § 3.105(e). These are not optional. If VA skips any of these steps, the reduction may be void.
First, VA must issue a proposed rating decision that sets forth all material facts and reasons for the proposed reduction. This is not the final decision. It is a proposal, and the veteran’s current payments continue unchanged while it is pending.
Second, VA must notify the veteran at the veteran’s last address of record and explain in detail why it believes the rating should be reduced. This notification must include the evidence VA relied on (typically a recent C&P exam showing improvement) and the specific rating change being proposed.
Third, VA must give the veteran 60 days to submit additional evidence showing that the current rating should be maintained. During this 60-day window, nothing changes. Your payments continue at the existing rate.
Fourth, the veteran has the right to request a predetermination hearing within 30 days of receiving the proposed reduction notice. If the veteran requests a hearing within this window, VA cannot issue a final reduction decision until the hearing has been held and the veteran has had the opportunity to present evidence and argument. This is an important protection that many veterans overlook.
If VA does not follow these procedures, the reduction is improper. The CAVC has held that a reduction made without proper notice and opportunity to respond is void from the beginning (known as “void ab initio”), and the prior rating must be restored. See Brown v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 413, 418 (1993).
The 5-Year Rule: Sustained Improvement Required
The 5-year rule, found in 38 C.F.R. § 3.344(a) and (c), is one of the most important protections against rating reductions. If a disability rating has been in effect at the same level for five or more years (measured from the effective date of the rating to the effective date of the proposed reduction), the rating is considered “stabilized.” VA must then meet a significantly higher standard before it can reduce it.
For stabilized ratings, 38 C.F.R. § 3.344(a) requires the following. VA must review the veteran’s entire record of examinations and the full medical history, not just the most recent exam. The exam used to support the reduction must be at least as full and complete as the exams on which the current rating was based. An exam that is less thorough than prior exams cannot be used as the basis for a reduction. For conditions subject to temporary or episodic improvement (such as PTSD, bipolar disorder, asthma, heart disease, and many skin conditions), VA cannot reduce the rating based on a single examination unless all the evidence of record clearly demonstrates sustained improvement. VA must also consider whether the improvement reflects an actual change in the veteran’s ability to function under the ordinary conditions of life and work, not just a snapshot of a good day in an examiner’s office.
If there is any doubt about whether the improvement is sustained, VA is required to continue the rating in effect and schedule a reexamination in 18, 24, or 30 months to see whether the improvement persists.
The 5-year rule does not make a rating permanent. It means VA carries a heavier burden of proof when proposing a reduction, and that burden requires more than a single exam showing some degree of improvement. In practice, many proposed reductions of stabilized ratings fail because VA relies on exactly what the regulation prohibits: one exam that paints a different picture than the full record.
The 10-Year Rule: Service Connection Is Locked
The 10-year rule, found in 38 C.F.R. § 3.957, protects service connection itself. Once a disability has been service-connected for 10 continuous years, VA generally cannot sever that service connection. The only exceptions are if the original grant was based on fraud, or if there is a finding that the veteran’s character of discharge does not qualify them for VA benefits.
This is a distinct protection from the 5-year rule. The 10-year rule does not prevent VA from changing the percentage of the rating. VA can still increase or decrease the rating based on the severity of the condition. What it cannot do is take away service connection entirely. In other words, VA cannot say “this condition is no longer service-connected” once the 10-year threshold has passed (absent fraud).
The practical significance is that a veteran who has been service-connected for a condition for 10 or more years will always have that condition on their record, even if the rating drops to 0%. A 0% service-connected rating still qualifies the veteran for VA health care for that condition, serves as the basis for future increased rating claims if the condition worsens, and supports secondary service connection claims for conditions caused or aggravated by the service-connected disability.
The 20-Year Rule: Your Rating Percentage Is Protected
The 20-year rule, found in 38 C.F.R. § 3.951(b), is the strongest protection available. If a disability rating has been continuously in effect at or above a certain percentage for 20 or more years, VA cannot reduce it below that percentage. The only exception, again, is fraud.
The key word is “continuously.” If a rating was 40% for 12 years, then reduced to 20% for 3 years, then increased back to 40% for 8 years, the 20-year clock for the 40% level restarted when it was restored. The protection applies to the longest continuous period at a given level.
The 20-year rule applies to individual condition ratings and can also apply to the combined rating. If a veteran’s combined rating has been at 90% continuously for 20 years, VA generally cannot reduce the combined rating below 90%, even if it adjusts individual condition ratings, unless the net effect keeps the combined rating at or above the protected level.
For veterans who have held ratings for decades, this protection is essentially a guarantee that their compensation will not decrease. VA may still schedule examinations, and the veteran should still attend them, but the practical effect of the 20-year rule is that the rating is locked in place.
Additional Protections: 100% Ratings and TDIU
100% Schedular Ratings
Total (100%) disability ratings carry additional protections under 38 C.F.R. § 3.343(a). A 100% rating may not be reduced unless the evidence shows material improvement that is reasonably certain to be maintained under the ordinary conditions of life. This is a high bar. VA must demonstrate not only that the veteran’s condition has improved, but that the improvement will persist in the real world, not just in the controlled setting of an examination.
Veterans who have been designated as Permanent and Total (P&T) have an additional layer of protection. A P&T designation means VA has determined that the veteran’s condition is not expected to improve. VA generally does not schedule routine future examinations for P&T veterans, and any attempt to reduce a P&T rating faces an even steeper evidentiary burden.
TDIU
Veterans receiving TDIU (Total Disability Based on Individual Unemployability) are also subject to the same procedural protections under § 3.105(e) and the same substantive protections under § 3.344 if the TDIU rating has been in effect for five or more years. VA cannot terminate TDIU without following the proposed reduction process and demonstrating that the veteran can now maintain substantially gainful employment.
One common trigger for TDIU reviews is VA discovering that the veteran has earned income above the federal poverty threshold ($15,960 in 2026). But even then, VA must follow the full due process requirements before reducing or terminating TDIU. And the 5-year and 20-year protections apply to TDIU the same way they apply to any other rating. If a veteran has been receiving TDIU continuously for 20 years, VA generally cannot reduce below that level absent fraud. For more on how TDIU works and the income rules, see our posts on working while on TDIU and what to do after being granted TDIU.
What to Do When You Get a Proposed Reduction Notice
If you receive a letter from VA proposing to reduce your disability rating, do not ignore it. The 60-day window to respond is real, and if you miss it, VA will finalize the reduction.
Read the proposed rating decision carefully. Identify exactly which condition VA is proposing to reduce, what rating VA is proposing, and what evidence VA relied on (usually a recent C&P exam). Understanding VA’s reasoning tells you what you need to counter.
Consider requesting a predetermination hearing within 30 days. This has two advantages: it gives you the opportunity to present your case directly, and it prevents VA from finalizing the reduction until after the hearing is held. If you request a hearing, your payments continue at the current rate until the hearing process is complete and VA issues a final decision.
During the 60-day window, submit additional evidence. This may include updated treatment records showing the condition has not improved, a statement from your treating physician explaining why the condition remains at the current severity level, lay statements from family members or others who observe your daily functioning, and (if the proposed reduction involves a stabilized rating) an argument that VA has not met the requirements of 38 C.F.R. § 3.344.
If the C&P exam VA relied on was less thorough than prior exams, note that specifically. Under § 3.344(a), exams less full and complete than those on which the rating was based cannot support a reduction of a stabilized rating. If the examiner did not review the claims file, did not address flare-ups, or spent only a few minutes on the evaluation, those are all grounds to challenge the adequacy of the exam.
Consulting with an attorney during the 60-day window can make a significant difference. The proposed reduction stage is often the most effective point to prevent a reduction, because it is much easier to stop a reduction before it happens than to restore a rating after the fact.
How to Challenge a Reduction That Already Happened
If VA has already finalized a rating reduction and your compensation has decreased, you still have options. You can appeal the reduction decision through any of the three AMA lanes: a supplemental claim with new evidence, a higher-level review if the error was in how VA applied the law, or a Board appeal.
The argument on appeal depends on what went wrong. If VA failed to follow the procedural requirements of § 3.105(e), the reduction may be void from the beginning and full restoration is warranted. If VA reduced a stabilized rating without showing sustained improvement under the ordinary conditions of life and work, the reduction may violate § 3.344 and Brown v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 413 (1993). If VA reduced a rating that had been in effect for 20 years, the reduction may violate § 3.951(b). In each of these scenarios, the appropriate remedy is restoration of the prior rating, often with back pay for the period the reduction was in effect.
It is worth noting that in a rating reduction case, VA bears the burden of proof. This is different from the typical disability claim where the veteran bears the burden of showing entitlement. When VA proposes or implements a reduction, VA must demonstrate that the reduction is warranted. If VA cannot meet that burden, the prior rating must be maintained.
Even if the one-year appeal period has passed, a veteran may still be able to challenge the reduction through a Clear and Unmistakable Error (CUE) claim. If VA effectuated a rating reduction without observing the procedural requirements of § 3.105(e) or the substantive protections of § 3.344, that failure may constitute CUE in the rating decision that implemented the reduction. A successful CUE claim results in reversal of the reduction and restoration of the prior rating, with full back pay to the effective date of the improper reduction. At After Service, we have had significant success with CUE claims in the rating reduction context because VA frequently fails to comply with its own regulatory obligations when reducing ratings. Common errors include reducing a stabilized rating without demonstrating sustained improvement, relying on an exam that was less thorough than the exam supporting the original rating, and failing to address whether the alleged improvement would be maintained under the ordinary conditions of life. These are not close calls. They are clear violations of binding regulations, and when we can identify them, the results for our clients can include years of retroactive compensation.
If VA has proposed or implemented a reduction in your disability rating, contact After Service LLC for a free consultation. Rating reductions involve some of the most procedurally complex areas of VA law, and responding effectively during the 60-day window, or challenging a reduction on appeal, requires a thorough understanding of the regulatory protections that apply to your specific situation. We represent veterans nationwide and can evaluate whether your reduction was legally proper or whether grounds exist for restoration. Call us at 800-955-8596 or schedule a free consultation today.
