The VA offers protections for disability ratings that have been in effect for specific periods of time. Until these regulatory protections kick in or your ratings become permanent, the VA may sever or reduce a veteran’s disability rating based on specific findings.
Can the VA Sever Service Connection?
Severance is when the VA tries to revoke a finding of service connection. If the VA tries to sever service connection, it will notify the veteran of the proposed action and give him or her 60 days to submit evidence to show that service connection should not be severed and 30 days to request a hearing. If the veteran does not submit evidence within that 60-day window or request a hearing within 30 days, the VA will issue a final decision.
In cases of severance, veterans are given added protection if they have been service-connected for the condition for 10 years or more. Under 38 C.F.R. 3.957 in the VA code of regulations, a veteran’s service-connected disability that has been in effect for ten years or more “will not be severed except upon a showing that the original grant was based on fraud or it is clearly shown from military records that the person concerned did not have the requisite service or character of discharge.” The ten years is calculated from the effective date of the award for service connection.
Can the VA Reduce My Disability Rating?
If a Veteran has disabilities that are not considered permanent, they may be sent for future VA examinations to evaluate the severity of those disabilities and rate them appropriately. The VA can reduce a Veteran’s disability rating if they find that their condition has improved.
The VA is required to follow the same process for reductions as they do for severances. If the VA wishes to reduce the disability rating, they must issue notice of the proposed reduction and give the Veteran 60 days to submit evidence and 30 days to request a hearing. However, there is one major difference between the process of reduction and severance: if the reduction does not change the actual amount of compensation a veteran receives, the VA does not have to issue notice of the reduction.
When Will VA Assign Staged Ratings?
Staged ratings are when the VA changes a disability rating based on the severity of the condition over a period of time. Staged ratings can occur when the Veteran’s condition has gotten better or worse from when he or she initially filed the claim and when the claim was adjudicated.
When Does My VA Rating Become Permanent?
If the VA has deemed you totally and permanently disabled, your disability ratings are permanent. This means that the VA does not see a reasonable chance of your conditions improving. If you are not “permanent and total,” the VA has regulatory protections for reductions of service-connected disabilities.
Under 38 C.F.R. 3.951 (b), the VA cannot reduce a rating that has been “continuously rated at or above any evaluation of disability for 20 or more years” unless it is shown that the rating was based on fraud. This rule protects disabilities that have been increased over the span of 20 years or more as well.
Stabilized Ratings
Stabilized RatingsStabilized ratings are for conditions where the disability rating has been the same for 5 years or more. For the VA to reduce stabilized ratings, they must show that your condition has exhibited sustained improvement. The threshold of evidence is higher in this circumstance, as the VA cannot rely on only one C&P examination to reduce the stabilized rating. (Click here to read our blog on C&P exams).
When Does My VA Rating Become Total?
The VA’s Schedule of Rating Disabilities is how Veteran disabilities are rated. The rating levels for each type of disability are based on the severity of your symptoms and how extreme your social and occupation impairments are. A 100% rating indicates that your disability is completely, or “totally,” disabling. 100% total ratings may be reduced if the VA can show that your condition has shown material improvement, which means there has been a significant change in the veteran’s ability to function in daily life.
Temporary Total Ratings
When the VA allows veterans to be compensated at the 100% rate during a hospitalization over 21 days due to a service-connected condition, this is called “convalescent ratings.” Convalescent ratings can span up to three months following hospital discharge or release from outpatient treatment.
Following a temporary total evaluation, the VA will rate the Veteran’s condition based on the new level of severity. This rating will be based on medical records from the period of convalescence. If the VA is unable to assess severity from the records, the veteran will be scheduled for an exam to assign the appropriate rating.
What If I Have TDIU? Is TDIU Permanent?
For Veterans that have been granted Total Disability Based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU), the VA can only reduce that rating if “actual employability is established by clear and convincing evidence”. This means the VA can only stop your TDIU if you are employable. For veterans with TDIU, the VA sends out a yearly employment questionnaire to see if a veteran participated in substantial gainful employment during that year.
How can legal representation help?
If you think that your rating was reduced or severed improperly by the VA, the VA legal team at Parmele Disability Advocates may be able to help. Statistics show that Veterans with legal representation have a significantly higher chance of winning their VA disability appeals, with some studies showing a success rate of around 40%.
If you would like help with your VA disability claim, call our specially trained VA team at 417-616-2691 to schedule your no-cost consultation. You can also email va@parmeledisability.com.
Parmele Disability Advocates – Veteran Affairs. Standing with you. Fighting for you.