You Got a Proposed VA Rating Reduction Letter. Now What?

What this letter is, and what it is not

This article is about the general proposal process. It is not the Higher-Level Review article. An HLR can be one way a proposal starts. If that is how you got here, read Can an HLR trigger a VA rating reduction? and then come back to the clocks on this letter.

The envelope is a proposal. VA thinks a lower evaluation of a service-connected disability, or of employability status, is warranted, and that the lower evaluation would reduce or stop compensation you are already getting. That two-part test is in the first sentence of § 3.105(e). If the evaluation of one condition drops but your combined pay does not, this proposal rule does not apply.

It is also not a regulation called "poking the bear." That phrase is barracks folklore. Sending the evidence § 3.105(e) invited, or asking for the hearing § 3.105(i) offers, is the process. It is not a secret penalty.

The actual rule

Start with § 3.105(e). Where a reduction in evaluation of a service-connected disability or employability status is considered warranted, and the lower evaluation would reduce or discontinue compensation currently being paid, VA prepares a rating proposing the reduction. That rating has to set forth all material facts and reasons. VA notifies you at your latest address of record, furnishes detailed reasons, and gives 60 days to present additional evidence that compensation should continue at the present level.

If additional evidence is not received in that period, and § 3.105(i) does not change the path, VA takes final rating action. The award is then reduced or discontinued effective the last day of the month in which a 60-day period from the date of notice of that final rating action expires. Read that twice. The first 60 days is your evidence window on the proposal. The second 60-day stretch runs after notice of the final action. The cut is dated to the last day of the month when that second stretch ends.

§ 3.105(i)(1) is the hearing rule. The notice has to tell you that you may request a predetermination hearing if VA receives the request within 30 days. If it is timely, VA gives at least 10 days' written notice of the time and place, unless you waive that. The hearing is run by VA personnel who did not participate in the proposal and who will make the decision. Timely request means payments continue at the old level pending the final call.

If you skip the hearing, or miss it without good cause, the final action is based solely on the evidence of record. § 3.105(i)(2). Good-cause examples include illness or hospitalization, or death of an immediate family member. If a hearing was held, VA uses the testimony plus the rest of the file. You get written notice of the final action, the reasons, and the evidence. For a § 3.105(e) compensation reduction, the effective date is still the last day of the month in which a 60-day period from notice of that final action expires. § 3.105(i)(2)(i).

What VA has to show, including 3.344

The proposal has to set forth all material facts and reasons. That is not a courtesy line. If the letter just says "exam shows improvement" and shrugs, that is a thin proposal.

38 CFR § 3.344 is the stabilization rule. The entire exam record and the medical-industrial history get reviewed. The recent exam has to be full and complete. Three lines in § 3.344(a) do the work.

Examinations less full and complete than those on which payments were authorized or continued will not be used as a basis of reduction.

Ratings for diseases subject to temporary or episodic improvement will not be reduced on any one examination, except where all the evidence of record clearly warrants sustained improvement. § 3.344(a) lists examples, including psychoneurotic reaction, epilepsy, asthma, and many skin diseases.

Even when material improvement is clearly reflected, the rating agency will consider whether the evidence makes it reasonably certain that the improvement will be maintained under the ordinary conditions of life. A good day in a clinic is not the same thing as ordinary life.

§ 3.344(c) limits paragraphs (a) and (b) to ratings that have continued for long periods at the same level, 5 years or more. They do not apply to disabilities that have not become stabilized and are likely to improve. Reexaminations disclosing improvement in those unstabilized disabilities will warrant reduction.

What to look at on the letter

Write down the date of the notice. The 30-day hearing clock and the 60-day evidence clock both run from that date, not from the day the mail finally showed up.

List every condition VA proposes to reduce, the current evaluation, the proposed evaluation, and the diagnostic code. Then read the reasons. § 3.105(e) requires detailed reasons and all material facts. Compare those reasons to the exam and the treatment notes already in the file.

Check whether the proposal would actually reduce compensation. If another evaluation went up in the same decision and pay would stay the same, § 3.105(e) is not the rule VA is supposed to use.

Look for the hearing language. If it is missing, flag that with an accredited representative.

Evidence without promising a grant

The 60-day window is for evidence that compensation should continue at the present level. Current treatment records that show the same functional limits the old rating used are the obvious start. If the proposal rests on one exam, older notes that show flares, missed work, or the same range-of-motion limits under ordinary conditions of life matter.

If § 3.344 applies, point to the gaps in the new exam. Missing range of motion, no discussion of flare-ups, or a shorter exam than the one that supported the current rating are the kinds of defects 38 CFR § 4.2 tells a rating board to return as inadequate.

A timely hearing request under § 3.105(i) keeps pay at the old level while VA finishes the call. It also puts you in front of someone who did not write the proposal. Bring the same records. Do not treat the hearing as a speech contest.

If you miss the 30-day hearing request, you still have the rest of the 60-day evidence window. Those are different clocks. Missing one does not erase the other.

After a final reduction notice, use the review options in 38 CFR § 3.2500. Do not file those on the proposal itself.

Mistakes to avoid

Treating the proposal as already final. It is not. Pay is not supposed to drop on the proposal date.

Missing both clocks. The hearing request is 30 days. The evidence window is 60 days. Both run from the date of the notice.

Sending only anger. VA asked for evidence that pay should continue. Send that.

Ignoring 3.344 because the letter did not cite it. The stabilization rule still exists. If it applies to the rating, it applies.

Filing an HLR on the proposal and ignoring the 30-day hearing request. Those are different tools. The hearing is the process built into the proposal. HLR is a review option after a decision. See the HLR reduction article if an HLR is how this started.

FAQ

Is a proposed reduction the same as a reduced rating?

No. § 3.105(e) requires a proposal, notice, and a 60-day evidence period before final rating action. The cut, if it happens, is dated after notice of that final action.

Do I have to request the hearing?

No. The hearing is optional. If VA receives a timely request within 30 days, pay continues at the old level pending the final determination. § 3.105(i)(1).

Does 3.344 always block a reduction?

No. § 3.344(c) applies (a) and (b) to ratings that have continued 5 years or more at the same level. It does not apply to unstabilized disabilities that are likely to improve.

Can VA reduce one evaluation without this proposal?

Only if pay would not drop. § 3.105(e) requires both a lower evaluation and a reduction or discontinuance of compensation currently being paid.

Primary sources

• 38 CFR § 3.105
• 38 CFR § 3.344
• 38 CFR § 3.2500
• VA decision reviews

Educational only. Not legal or medical advice. Confirm against the veteran's actual notice and current eCFR / VA.gov. For claim-specific help, use a VA-accredited VSO, claims agent, or attorney.