PTSD affects millions of veterans around the country and the world. In fact, PTSD is one of the most commonly service-connected health conditions for VA disability benefits. Combat, MST, hazing, and other traumatic experiences put veterans at risk of developing this serious disorder.
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However, getting VA benefits for PTSD is only part of the challenge – veterans also have concerns about keeping their benefits once they’ve been awarded. Many vets wonder if PTSD is a permanent VA disability and whether the VA can or will reduce their rating for the condition.
In this article, we will talk about veterans and PTSD, when the VA can reduce your disability rating for PTSD, and how the VA’s 5-year rule works.
Key Takeaways
- Veterans can receive 0%, 10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, or 100% VA disability for PTSD, depending on the severity of their symptoms and how much their condition impairs their ability to live and work.
- For the most part, the VA can reduce your disability rating if it believes a reduction is warranted based on your medical documentation, C&P exam results, and other evidence.
- If you do not appeal your PTSD VA decision, the agency is not likely to look at your case again for two to five years. That’s how often it schedules what are known as “periodic future examinations.”
In this article about if the VA can reduce your disability rating for PTSD:
Veterans and PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe trauma disorder that can be brought on after a person is exposed to an extreme, often life-threatening, stressor. PTSD symptoms can develop immediately or years after a traumatic event.
About 7% of veterans experience PTSD, which is slightly higher than nonveterans. In fact, PTSD is the fourth most commonly service-connected condition for VA disability benefits and the most commonly service-connected mental health issue. More than 1.5 million veterans receive compensation for PTSD, according to the VA’s most recent data.
You may have one PTSD stressor or several. Combat stressors cover any traumatizing event experienced in combat, including witnessing death and fearing for your life. Non-combat stressors, on the other hand, can include serious vehicle accidents, military sexual trauma (MST), hazing incidents, and other traumatic events on base or during training. Understanding your stressors can help you connect your condition to service.
Can the VA reduce your disability rating for PTSD?
Veterans can receive 0%, 10%, 30%, 50%, 70%, or 100% VA disability for their PTSD, depending on the severity of their symptoms and how much their condition impairs their ability to live and work.
But once it’s awarded, can the VA reduce your disability rating for PTSD? The short answer is yes. The slightly longer answer is, it’s not always so easy, which we will explain below.
When the VA can reduce a PTSD VA rating
For the most part, the VA can reduce your disability rating if it believes a reduction is warranted based on your medical documentation, C&P exam results, and other evidence.
However, if you do not appeal your PTSD VA decision, the agency is not likely to look at your case again for two to five years. That’s how often it schedules what are known as “periodic future examinations.” These medical exams are meant to evaluate the current state of your service-connected health condition to see if it has improved.
If you were awarded a prestabilized 50% VA disability rating for PTSD, your reexamination will be scheduled within six months following your separation from service instead.
Reexaminations may occur when:
- Your condition is likely to improve (Note: It is not likely the VA will consider your PTSD “unlikely to improve” as most people recover from their symptoms over time), or
- Evidence shows a previous decision on your PTSD may have been made in error, or
- You are receiving more than the minimum possible rating for PTSD (more than 0%), or
- Changing your PTSD rating would affect your overall VA monthly compensation
After a reexamination, it’s possible for your VA rating to be taken away altogether, reduced, or increased based on the results. Your benefits may also remain the same if the VA determines your condition is unchanged.
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Stabilized VA ratings and the VA disability 5-year rule for PTSD
There are several reasons the VA cannot reduce a PTSD rating or is limited in doing so, except for in extreme cases such as fraud.
These include:
- Stabilized VA ratings or the VA disability 5-year rule for PTSD: When individuals refer to a “VA disability 5-year rule for PTSD,” they are actually referring to the VA’s process for stabilizing ratings. If your PTSD remains unchanged for five years and the VA consistently grants you the same rating during that time, your rating should become stabilized. It is more difficult for the VA to reduce your rating once it is stabilized. The VA can only reduce a stabilized disability rating if your PTSD shows sustained improvement over multiple examinations. Ratings that are not stabilized can be reduced based on a single exam.
- The VA’s 10-year rule: The VA cannot sever a service connection for your PTSD once it has been rated for 10 years or more, even if the rating changed or was reduced during that time. At 10 years, the service connection becomes protected. Once a veteran’s service connection is protected, a PTSD rating may still be reduced, but the VA can’t terminate benefits for the condition entirely.
- The VA’s 20-year rule: The only way the VA can reduce a PTSD rating that has been at or above the same disability rating level for 20 consecutive years is if it can prove you obtained the rating through fraud. Otherwise, the rating becomes protected.
- The VA’s 55-year-old rule: Veterans who receive VA disability benefits for service-connected conditions, including PTSD, are typically exempt from periodic future examinations once they turn 55, with minor exceptions.
- Permanent VA ratings: It is unlikely your PTSD will be given a permanent VA rating due to the nature of the illness and its likelihood of improving over time. However, If you receive a permanent disability rating, your VA disability compensation should be safe from reevaluation and unlikely to change.
Therefore, while the VA can reduce your PTSD VA disability rating in many cases, it becomes more difficult the longer you receive VA benefits for PTSD, the more your condition is consistently shown to stay the same, and the older you get.
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How Woods & Woods can help
Woods & Woods has been fighting for people with injuries and disabilities since 1985. Our team of accredited VA disability lawyers, case managers, legal analysts, and intake specialists know the ins and outs of the VA so you don’t have to do all the hard work. Call us today for your free and confidential case evaluation.
Frequently asked questions
The VA can reduce your PTSD VA disability rating in many cases, but it becomes more difficult the longer you receive VA benefits for PTSD, the more your condition is consistently shown to stay the same, and the older you get.
PTSD is not automatically considered a permanent VA disability. A permanent disability rating is granted by the VA when your condition isn’t expected to improve or change within your lifetime. Therefore it is possible but unlikely to receive a permanent PTSD rating, as most individuals with PTSD show improvement over time.
Neil Woods
Neil Woods is a VA disability attorney and the owner and president of Woods & Woods. He received his law degree from Western Michigan University.
