Costa Raises Concern with U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs Over Unexplained Disability Benefits Reductions

Press Release

Rep. Jim Costa is seeking information from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on an apparent spike in disability cuts for veterans. Costa led a letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough asking for more clarity on the process that determines disability cuts. This comes after Costa's office has seen an increase in veterans reaching out over concerns about these reductions.

The Department of Veterans Affairs often conducts random assessments on veterans, which sometimes result in reductions in the amount of disability compensation distributed. The veterans who have contacted Costa's office feel recent reductions are unfair and do not accurately reflect the gravity of their disability. Some veterans have said they experience a reduction in their disability rating and compensation after routine medical appointments. Unexplained reductions in veterans' disability ratings and compensations can lead to some veterans forgoing necessary medical care, which can have serious health consequences.

In a portion of the letter to Secretary McDonough, Costa asks for more transparency in the disability compensation process:

It appears that we are seeing an uptick in the number of veterans reaching out to us expressing profound anxiety and confusion about why their disability rating and monthly compensation benefit has been reduced. In the case where the Department of Veterans Affairs is conducting random checks and issuing disability reductions, veterans often feel blindsided as well as exasperated that a reduction doesn't reflect their current level of disability. In other cases, veterans are going in for a regular medical appointment, sometimes even with concerns about a deterioration in their condition, only to get a notice that their disability status has been cut due to improvement. In some cases, our constituent veterans are seeing reductions ranging from 20 to 40% monthly compensation.

This is fundamentally at odds with the spirit of existing U.S. Code and U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, which emphasizes the importance of comprehensive assessments before a reduction is made to a veterans' disability status. These cuts are having a dramatic effect on the mental and physical health of our veterans. In some cases, veterans are avoiding going to the doctor, for fear of receiving a medical assessment that might unfairly reduce their benefits. Often, this process is actively disincentivizing veterans from participating in the systems set up to serve them. Furthermore, a pileup of requests for the Department of Veterans Affairs to reconsider these proposed reductions is causing enormous delays and increasing wait times for veterans.

As we seek to understand why this is happening and to better serve our constituents, we request an answer to the following questions:

1. Issuing reductions after one appointment is unacceptable and deeply unfair to our veterans. Has the Department of Veterans Affairs considered implementing a minimum number of appointments required before deciding to issue a reduction, in order to demonstrate sustained improvement to veterans' health over time?

2. A number of veterans are reporting concerns about reductions associated with proposed changes in rating criteria for Tinnitus following a reassessment of the Veterans Affairs Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD). The Department of Veterans Affairs issued a notice on February 15th highlighting proposed adjustments to VASRD with the commitment that "no change to a veteran's current rating would occur due to these proposed changes." With this commitment in mind, what accounts for this spike in reductions to disability rating for veterans with Tinnitus?

3. The experience of receiving notice that your disability status is being reduced is often profoundly upsetting for veterans. Has the Department of Veterans Affairs considered widening the window between the date a notice is issued to a veteran of a reduction and the date the veteran is required to request a hearing?

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