VA Proposed a Rating Reduction — What Happens Next

The § 3.105(e) sequence

1. VA issues a rating proposing the reduction, with notice of the reasons and of the right to respond.
2. The claimant has 60 days to submit evidence that the reduction should not be made.
3. The claimant has 30 days to request a predetermination hearing. If requested within that period, payments continue at the existing rate until the hearing is held and a decision issued.
4. If VA makes the reduction final, the effective date is the last day of the month in which a 60-day period from the date of notice of the final action expires.

Protections that depend on how long the rating has been in place

• 38 CFR § 3.344(a)–(b) — for evaluations continued at the same level for five years or more, VA must consider the entire record, and the examination relied on must be as full and complete as the exams on which the rating was originally based. Reduction requires sustained material improvement under the ordinary conditions of life.
• 38 CFR § 3.344(c) — evaluations in effect less than five years may be reduced on a showing of improvement, but the examination must still be adequate.
• 38 CFR § 3.951(b) — an evaluation continuously in effect 20 years or more is protected from reduction except on a finding of fraud.
• 38 CFR § 3.343(a) — a total rating will not be reduced without material improvement in physical or mental condition actually shown.
• 38 CFR § 3.343(c) — for a total rating based on unemployability, actual employability must be established by clear and convincing evidence.

If the reduction is made final

A final reduction is a rating decision, so the ordinary AMA options apply: Higher-Level Review, Supplemental Claim, or Board appeal within one year (38 CFR § 3.2500). Where the argument is that VA did not follow the procedural requirements of § 3.105(e) or the substantive standards of § 3.344, that is an argument about the existing record — which is generally an HLR posture. Where the argument depends on new medical evidence about the current severity, a Supplemental Claim accepts it.

Time-sensitive mistakes

• ×Letting the 30-day hearing-request window pass, which forfeits continuation of payments at the current rate pending the hearing.
• ×Missing a VA-scheduled review examination — failure to report can itself support a reduction under 38 CFR § 3.655.
• ×Submitting nothing during the 60-day period on the assumption that a response can be made later.

Frequently Asked Questions

References & sources

1. 38 CFR § 3.105(e) — Reduction in evaluation — eCFR
2. 38 CFR § 3.344 — Stabilization of disability evaluations — eCFR
3. 38 CFR § 3.951 — Preservation of disability ratings — eCFR