Want More Help with Your Sleep Apnea VA Claim? You can submit a rebuttal Statement In Support of Claim but this will probable result in continued denial. When youre granted a sleep apnea VA rating, you may also be assigned a re-evaluation period (unless the condition is classified as static). First of all, lets explore a little about this common disability in veterans, so you understand the condition and why its important you pursue your claim and get the benefits you deserve. A polysomnogram at a sleep center might be preferred if you have heart or lung disease, risk factors for central sleep apnea or a history of other sleep disorders. If you meet the requirement of having a current diagnosis, you can obtain a service connection and VA rating for sleep apnea and receive disability benefits. Was it inhaling the air around the Burn Pits? Take advantage of a FREE VA Claim Discovery Call with an experienced Team Member. If youre claiming sleep apnea as a secondary condition, make sure you already have a medical diagnosis before you make your claim. Phoenix, AZ: One Renaissance Tower, Two North Central Avenue, 18th & 19th Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85004 It was denied. In order to determine whether you should be referred for a sleep study, a doctor will first perform a physical exam, ask about symptoms, and collect your personal and family history. Believe it or not, buddy statements can be helpful in proving sleep apnea claims if you can find vets who you served with and heard you snoring, or can talk about the issues that led to the sleep apnea. If a doctor thinks its highly likely you have sleep apnea, the sleep study may also involve a positive air pressure (PAP) device. This means you do NOT currently have the VA disability rating and compensation YOU deserve, and you could be missing out on thousands of dollars of tax-free compensation and benefits each month. Why? Is it difficult to stay awake performing tasks like driving, reading or watching TV? Box 449, Deland, FL 32721, Orlando, FL: 605 E. Robinson Street Suite 635, Orlando, FL 32801 This is especially relevant for veterans diagnosed with sleep apnea long after leaving the military. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC). The most documented VA percentages for sleep apnea are as follows: 0% Sleep apnea with documented sleep disorder breathing that is currently asymptomatic. Even if youve been denied before, its not too late! How VA Diagnoses Sleep Apnea in Veterans. The second part can be satisfied with your existing service-connected disability rated at 0 percent or higher. Do you take naps? Veterans that obtain a VA sleep apnea rating can regularly also service-connect strokes. Weve supported more than 15,000 veterans to win their claims. Do you feel tired or sleepy during the day? As a fellow disabled Veteran this is shameful and Im on a mission to change it. Thousands of other Veterans in our Community are here for you. You DESERVE a HIGHER VA rating.WE CAN HELP. Typically the re-evaluation period is anywhere from two to five years after your initial examination. Learn how your comment data is processed. Thats the original copyright date, Marcus; the ebook version in the bookstore is the 2nd edition, updated in 2016. If youre stuck, frustrated, underrated, and currently rated between 0%-90%, VA Claims Insider Elite is for you! The signs and symptoms of these three types of sleep apnea tend to overlap, sometimes making it difficult to determine which type a person has. Brian Reese here, Air Force service-disabled Veteran and Founder @ VA Claims Insider. This book is a must-read: I wrote it after talking to several doctors, hundreds of veterans who were denied sleep apnea in their VA disability claim, and after reading hundreds if not thousands of BVA and Court Decisions about Sleep Apnea. Its an essential piece of evidence. Its FREE to get started, so click Go Elite Now below to complete our 3-step intake process. The first step we like to suggest (aside from starting with VA Form 21-526EZ) is to get a medical opinion from your doctor when it comes to proving a sleep apnea claim. PTSD - A study involving Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who visited a VA outpatient PTSD clinic found that 69% percent of them had a high risk for sleep apnea, and this risk increased with PTSD symptom severity. At that time, the VA may schedule a re-examination to verify if your sleep apnea symptoms still exist, and if theyve changed. This blockage is caused when the back throat muscles relax, impairing the airflow. Check out our Philips CPAP Recall page here! The VA rates all cases individually, but usually follow a guide of qualifying conditions. Including a nexus letter for sleep apnea can be an important part of your claim to strengthen your case for a sleep apnea VA rating. In this guide, we'll explore how to get a VA Rating for Insomnia even if youve already filed or been denied benefits in the past. Even if youve had a sleep study before, its important to get one done within the 12 months prior to your VA claim. The polysomnography study records your brain waves, the oxygen levels in your blood, your heart rate and breathing, and eye and leg movements, among other criteria. Some veterans with sleep apnea may experience improvement with lifestyle changes, but CPAP therapy is still among the most common treatments. OSA secondary to PTSD (or other mental health claim) is a more challenging claim to make, but it is still a top candidate for secondary service connection of sleep apnea. There are also many service-connected conditions that can result in sleep apnea. The causes of the condition can be a combination of CSA and OSA causes; it can also be that your CSA presents as OSA, and only becomes apparent as CSA after OSA treatment (this is called Treatment Emergent CSA). If treatment for sleep apnea provides only limited alleviation, you will only receive ten percent of your maximum compensation, even if a CPAP machine is required. You're not alone. The statements of the veterans wife in sleep apnea claim #2, while not at all competent to show the causeof the sleep apnea, or its medical relation to sleep apnea, did show that the sleep apnea symptoms had existed from service to diagnosis. Sleep apnea is proven to significantly reduce a persons quality of life (in one study, the reduction in quality of life was equivalent to that observed with diabetes or hypertension). Our firm was founded in 1986 in Orlando, Florida. A private physician note indicates that prior to deployment to Iraq, the Veteran had no symptoms of, or treatment for, sleep apnea. Since this condition is nearly epidemic among veterans, its important to learn what it takes to get a VA disability for sleep apnea, as well as how the condition may affect you. This is so simple that most folks dont believe it. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had active service from July 1952 to March 1954. Its FREE to get started, so click Go Elite Now below to complete our 3-step intake process. Sleep Apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which a person's breathing is repeatedly interrupted, or ceases, during the course of a night's sleep. While an OSA disability claim secondary to sinusitis/rhinitis is an easier path, veterans who are service-connected for PTSD (or other mental health conditions) are eligible for secondary service connection for their sleep apnea, and its possible to achieve an OSA disability claim secondary to PTSD with the right strategy and credible medical evidence. Its this simple: without a bullet, a rifle is powerless. VA Sleep Apnea Claim #1: This Veteran served in Iraq and Kuwait in 2003 to 2004. In December 2007, he filed a claim to service connect Sleep Apnea, as secondary to service-connected PTSD. So if this proposed change for sleep apnea ratings goes through, its possible that veterans may start getting lowballed ratings. No current sleep study within the last 12 months #2. book: Put it to Rest: Your VA Sleep Apnea Claim. 0%: Indicates that the claimant is largely asymptomatic but does show documented sleep apnea. What DOES Drive the VA Sleep Apnea Claim? Sleep Apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which a persons breathing is repeatedly interrupted, or ceases, during the course of a nights sleep. Beyond the PTSD criterion symptoms of insomnia and nightmares, 40% to 98% of veterans with PTSD also have a co- occurring sleep disturbance such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), periodic leg movement disorder, sleep terrors, or nocturnal anxiety attacks. In April 2004, he wastreated after his military service ended for fatigue and insomnia. People with sleep apnea are four times more likely to have depression than people without a sleeping disorder. These include: As youre gathering medical evidence to file your VA claim for sleep apnea, remember that just having a CPAP alone doesnt meet the VAs requirements for service connection. His frustration with the8-step VA disability claims processled him to createVA Claims Insider,which provides U.S. military veterans with tips, strategies, and lessons learned for successfully submitting or re-submitting a winning VA disability compensation claim. In our experience, an upper respiratory disability is one of the easiest choices for claiming OSA secondary to another service-connected disability. They are putting the cart before the horse. The Veteran appealed, and had his first Board hearing (a remand for further development) in December 2009. Why would a VA claim be denied Sleep Apnea? LIFETIME Subscription to the Veterans Law Blog, Quarterly Subscription to the Veterans Law Blog, Annual Subscription to the Veterans Law Blog, describing the sleep apnea symptomatology, opined that the Veterans Sleep Apnea was, at least as likely as not, related, lay evidence of sleep apnea symptomatology from service to diagnosis. In fact, even if the Veteran inVA sleep apnea claim #2 had not had a private medical opinion, that lay evidence would have completely undercut the VA C&P examin that claimbecause that VA C&P opinion did NOT consider the lay statements of the ongoing and chronic symptoms of sleep apnea from discharge to diagnosis. Learn how your comment data is processed. Obstructive Sleep Apnea: aka,OSA, is a type of sleep apnea that occurs when your airway is blocked or obstructed. If youre stuck, frustrated, underrated, and currently rated between 0%-90%, VA Claims Insider Elite is for you! However, in February 2022, VA proposed changes that would reclassify sleep apnea ratings to 0 percent, 10 percent, 30 percent, or 50 percent, with 100 percent for sleep apnea seeming even harder to qualify for. Pittsburgh, PA: 201 Penn Center Boulevard, Suite 400, Pittsburgh, PA, 15235 If your obstructive sleep apnea VA claim, or other sleep apnea claim, was originally denied, you may be able to appeal the rating and receive VA disability compensation. OSA is a common denial veterans receive when pursuing a VA claim, but it doesnt have to beif you understand the condition and what your claim must include in order to be successful. A 2023 Guide to VA Disability Rates & Pay Schedules, Individual Unemployability Rating Calculator, List of Blue Water Navy Ships Exposed to Agent Orange (Interactive Vietnam Map), Social Security Disability Benefits Guide, sleep apnea as a secondary service connected condition to PTSD, Calculate Your Potential Compensation Now. If you use a CPAP machine to address your sleep apnea, youre likely to be rated at least at 50 percent. VA may deny a sleep apnea claim based on different aspects, whether theres not enough medical evidence of sleep apnea or perhaps no logical connection between your military service and your current sleep apnea. When he got to the BVA, the following evidence was in his C-File: Statements from the Veterans wife describing the sleep apnea symptomatologysince the Veteran returned from Iraq until his 2007 diagnosis. Here are some of the most common symptoms of central and obstructive sleep apnea: Morning headache Having a dry mouth when you wake up Loud snoring Periods in which you stop breathing when you sleep Difficulty staying asleep Trouble paying attention while awake Irritability Daytime sleepiness Sexual dysfunction Bottom Line: Understanding YOUR VA Sleep Apnea diagnosis Drives YOUR Claim. We are sorry that this post was not as useful for you! The hard copy, if you would like to get that, is also the second editionyou can get the hard copy by clicking here. A disability with a secondary service connection is a condition that was caused or made worse by an already existing service-connected condition. If so, how often and how long are your naps? I submitted my claim and tried to Link my Sleep Apnea to my PTSD. Your email address will not be published. Yes, sleep apnea can be service-connectedand will need to be service-connected in order for you to get a disability rating for sleep apnea. Since sleep apnea can correlate with conditions like heart disease and obesity, its important to seek treatment options. The violence of the rape caused a lot of damage to her jaw, back and neck muscles, including breaking her jaw. Cincinnati, OH: 300 E Business Way, Suite 200, Summit Woods Corporate Center, Cincinnati, OH, 45241 Sleep Apnea Denial Looking for some direction from people that have received rating for sleep apnea. How to Get a 100 Percent VA Rating (if deserved)! He had traditional sleep apnea symptoms, and was diagnosed with sleep apnea in January 2007. This Veteran served in Iraq and Kuwait in 2003 to 2004. So she went back to her doctor she knew the diagnosis drives the Sleep Apnea Claim to understand HER diagnosis better. The private physician noted post-deployment symptomatology of sleep apnea, and opined that the Veterans Sleep Apnea was, at least as likely as not, related to the Veterans tours of duty in Iraq. * About 2 years after her discharge, she began having sleeping problems. * The 5Reasons that 76% of VA Sleep Apnea claims are denied and how to fix the problem in YOUR case. By the way, these examples come directly from 2 actual BVA decisions. Some of the most common symptoms of sleep apnea include: People who suffer from sleep apnea are often unaware of the breathing disturbances, finding out about them from a bed partner or roommate. Diagnosing Sleep Apnea Br."). A credible nexus letter fulfills one of the requirements for secondary service connection for sleep apnea: medical nexus evidence establishing a connection between the service-connected disability and the current disability (sleep apnea). It can also work in reverse: sleep apnea can lead to other disabilities. Sleep apnea also ranks #2 on our List of the Top 5 Secondary Conditions to PTSD. There are three primary ways for veterans to get a sleep study: Once youve finished your sleep study, its important to review your results with a sleep specialist to confirm whether you have a medical diagnosis of sleep apnea. The causes of these disturbances may vary depending on which form of the condition you have: obstructive, central, or a mixed form of both. It is essential that you document symptoms and evidence to submit. Our process takes the guesswork out of filing a VA disability claim and supports you every step of the way in building a fully-developed claim (FDC)so you can increase your rating faster! Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. No current sleep study within the last 12 months, #2. Youll need to make the call on direct service connection versus secondary service connection. If you have a breathing machine, you need to provide . See our article Burn Pit Presumptive Conditions. The BVA is saying that there was no lay evidence (or medical evidence for that matter) from service to diagnosis of the veterans sleep apnea. You will need medical evidence that shows what type of sleep apnea you have (obstructive, central or mixed), how severe it is and if you can show how it was caused by your service in . Has anyone in your family been diagnosed with sleep apnea? It is, at its core, an interruption of the communication network between the brain and the breathing muscles. To understand HOW the diagnosis drives a veterans VA Sleep Apnea Claim, we have to first understand the 3 different types of Sleep Apnea, * Damage to the lungs themselves can lead to OSA. 11:30 Why this obstructive sleep apnea claim was denied Sleep disordered breathing, as well as the myriad of symptoms linked with it (such as sleepiness and fatigue), can all exacerbate the relationship between sleep apnea and PTSD. Sleep apnea treatment depends on the type and severity of the condition. Learn what youve been missing so you can FINALLY get the disability rating and compensation youve earned for your service. Brian is a Distinguished Graduate of Management from theUnited States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO and he holds an MBA from Oklahoma State Universitys Spears School of Business, Stillwater, OK, where he was a National Honor Scholar (Top 1% of Graduate School class). If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. (The VA had already conceded the rape occurred as part of another part of this Veterans claim). You may already be able to see how understanding the roots of your Sleep Apnea diagnosis can DRIVE your sleep apnea claim. Brian Reese here, Air Force service-disabled Veteran and Founder @ VA Claims Insider.
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