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Permanent & Total · decision-letter check

Am I Permanent and Total?

Free. P&T is not a rating. It is a finding VA makes on top of a 100% rate, and the letter almost never says “P&T”. It says it two other ways. Answer four questions from the letter in your hand and this tells you what it says, what it protects, and what it unlocks.

1. How are you paid at the 100% rate?

Look at the rating decision’s combined rating line, or the TDIU grant.

What “permanent” actually stops

Under 38 CFR 3.327(b)(2), VA schedules no periodic re-examination in six situations. A permanent finding is one of them, and it is the one the letter states out loud.

  1. The disability is established as static.
  2. Exams and hospital reports show no material improvement for 5 years or more.
  3. The disability is permanent in character with no likelihood of improvement.
  4. The veteran is over 55, except in unusual circumstances.
  5. The rating is a prescribed scheduled minimum.
  6. A lower rating on one condition would not change the combined rating.

What P&T unlocks

  • Chapter 35 education benefits for a spouse and children — the statute’s test is a “total disability permanent in nature” (38 USC 3501). This is why a Chapter 35 grant on the letter is the tell.
  • CHAMPVA health coverage for a spouse and children, on the same “total, permanent in nature” test (38 USC 1781).
  • State benefits — many property-tax exemptions and fee waivers key on P&T. Look up your state.
  • DIC for survivors — a total rating held continuously for 10 years before death qualifies a surviving spouse even if the death was not service-connected (38 USC 1318). DIC screener.

Can a P&T rating still be reduced?

Rarely, and never quietly. Any reduction that lowers your pay must be proposed first, with the reasons, and you get 60 days to answer (38 CFR 3.105(e)). Two separate clocks protect you regardless of P&T:

  • A rating in place for 20 years cannot be reduced below that level except for fraud (38 CFR 3.951(b)).
  • Service connection in place for 10 years cannot be severed except for fraud or a service that never qualified (38 CFR 3.957).

If the letter is silent

VA does not always make a permanence finding when it grants 100%. You can ask for one in a short statement — a 21-4138 requesting a P&T determination, citing that the condition has shown no material improvement and no future exam is warranted under 38 CFR 3.327(b)(2). If a re-exam is already scheduled, prepare for it the way you would for the original.

Every section cited above was read from law.cornell.edu on 2026-09-09. Software, not representation.

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