A sleep study is critical to confirming whether you meet the clinical diagnostic criteria for sleep apnea. Service connection on a secondary basis requires evidence of aggravation or causation.This requires that the secondary disability be shown to be proximately due to or proximately aggravated by another service-connected disability. Even if youve been denied before, its not too late! Anxiety and depression can interfere with sleep patterns. So she went back to her doctor she knew the diagnosis drives the Sleep Apnea Claim to understand HER diagnosis better. The VA prescribes several different types of CPAP machines. The Veteran inVA sleep apnea claim #2 included the statement of the veterans wife describing the symptoms of sleep apnea from service discharge to diagnosis. As youve seen, claims for obstructive sleep apnea can be trickyyet important to pursue if youre suffering from this disability, so you can get the benefits you deserve and care you need. Can the VA take away my sleep apnea rating? A study conducted by the VA Healthcare System for San Diego and National Center for PTSD found that between 40 percent and 98 percent (!) Want More Help with Your Sleep Apnea VA Claim? Ask your private doctor for a referral to a sleep specialist in your area (a good option if you have private health insurance). When he got to the BVA the following evidence was in his C-File: Hypersomnolence (i.e., excessive daytime sleepiness), Mental anxiety and/or depression related to combat, Use of alcohol, sedatives, certain medications or tranquilizers. (If you need an independent medical opinion in the VAs language, take a look at our VA Claims Insider Elite program. Required fields are marked *. Veterans Court reminds the VA: the BVA must adjudicate the logically related informal claim. After first reading these examples, the obvious answer is that the private examiners opinion in VA sleep apnea claim #2 was what made the difference. In our experience, a well-crafted nexus letter for sleep apnea is the single most crucial document you can provide to help prove service connection on an at least as likely as not basis. In our experience, OSA denials are almost always due to one or more of these five gaps: Fortunately, there are simple strategies you can employ to address these factorseven if the VA has already denied your VA claim for sleep apnea. The violence of the rape caused a lot of damage to her jaw, back and neck muscles, including breaking her jaw. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. This can occur from ten times to hundreds of times per night. There are three components to proving direct service connection for any VA disability claim: For the legal principles of direct service connection, see 38 CFR 3.303. this was in Sept last year, fast forward to now, and as i suspected my sleep apnea was denied connection to my PTSD. Heres the deal Lets begin today's post with the Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF): It is HARD to get service connected for Sleep Apnea secondary to Depression. If youre dealing with sleep apnea as a secondary condition to PTSD, you arent alone! How do I prove VA disability for sleep apnea? PTSD is well-known for causing sleep deprivation, chronic stress, and an increase in body mass or obesity due to prescribed medications. Phone. Heres the brutal truth about VA disability claims: We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Estimate your 2023 VA Rating & Compensation for FREE! By focusing on what CAUSED the airway obstruction, you are forcingthe VA to focus on the in-service event and the nexus. These would include situations in which: According to 38 CFR 3.105(e), a rating reduction (for any condition) may only take place in cases where: The VA is also required to issue a veteran notice of a proposed reduction and give you 60 days to submit evidence and 30 days to request a hearing (unless the reduction would not change your compensation). If youre stuck, frustrated, underrated, and currently rated between 0%-90%, VA Claims Insider Elite is for you! It was what the lay evidence DID that made all the difference in these two VA sleep apnea claims. Thats the original copyright date, Marcus; the ebook version in the bookstore is the 2nd edition, updated in 2016. As of December 1st, 2022 the VA disability rate benefit amounts are as follows: 0 percent disability rating: $0.00 per month. Though the path from your nose to your lungs is a short one, there are a lot of parts of your body that air has to pass through. If accepted into our ELITE membership program, youll get free up-front access and permission to use $13,119 worth of proprietary VA claim resources, including access to our network of independent medical professionals for medical examinations, disability evaluations, and credible Medical Nexus Letters, which could help you get a HIGHER VA rating in LESS time. A private physician note indicates that prior to deployment to Iraq, the Veteran had no symptoms of, or treatment for, sleep apnea. Your email address will not be published. The Office of the Inspector General found that 1.3 million veterans enrolled in VA Healthcare have a sleep apnea diagnosis. In our experience, most VA disability claims are won or lost based on medical evidence. #3: It passes through the throat muscles, between the vocal chords, and enters your lungs. Washington, D.C.: 1776 I Street, NW, 9th Floor, Washington, D.C 20006 This opens doors for many veterans who were unable to service-connect these respiratory conditions previously. I filed the claim as as secondary to GERD a pre-existing already disability. Which primary disabilities make the best claims for secondary service connection of sleep apnea? How to Get a 100 Percent VA Rating (if deserved)! Why? The condition is given a serious VA disability rating . It occurs when airflow is impaired repeatedly during sleep due to blockage in the upper airway. Complex Sleep Apnea: In September 2006, researchers at the Mayo Clinic identified a new type of Sleep Apnea whichthey are calling complex sleep apnea. (The VA had already conceded the rape occurred as part of another part of this Veterans claim). Think about it this way: if you are diagnosed with severe hearing loss, then to win your hearing loss claim, you arent going to waste your time telling the VA about your knee injuries. Do you feel tired or sleepy during the day? Copyright 2023 Hill & Ponton, P.A.. All Rights Reserved. This includes having a sleep study done, a buddy letter from your spouse, and medical records from your doctor about your symptoms. Some conditions that can be secondary to sleep apnea may include but are not limited to: If you have a service-connected condition that you believe is causing your sleep apnea, it may be a good idea to start to talk to your doctors about it. Turns out, SSG Jones was raped in the Army a very violent rape by a Senior NCO in her unit. Because the medical research is slim to Why do so many veterans have sleep apnea? At VA Claims Insider, we can help you win your claim and get the highest VA rating for sleep apnea. No current medical diagnosis (within the last 12 months), or improper diagnosis, #3. If you prefer a paper copy, you can get it direct from the publisher by clicking here, or buy it on Amazon, by clicking on the link below: If its all too much and youre ready to hire an attorney that is accredited to handle VA Claims, and who focuses a lot of his firmslaw practice on VA SleepApnea claims, check out the Attig Steel law firm and request a consultation about your VA sleep apnea appeal. 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. Box 449, Deland, FL 32721, Orlando, FL: 605 E. Robinson Street Suite 635, Orlando, FL 32801 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. However, VA has not identified literature to support inclusion of sleep apnea as a presumption at this time. By law, there are three evidentiary elements that must be satisfied for sleep apnea secondary conditions to prove secondary service connection: The first part can be satisfied with any existing medical evidence service treatment records, VA medical records, or any private medical records, assuming you do have a diagnosis of sleep apnea. 30 percent disability rating: $508.05 per month. If your initial rating decision letter says that future examinations are scheduled, or you dont have a 100% permanent and total rating, then your disability rating is not considered permanent or static by the VA. Do you currently smoke, or have you smoked in the past? The most common reason for denial of secondary claims is not establishing a strong enough connection between the service-connected disability and the sleep apnea. No proof of service connection (missing a nexus letter), #4 Lack of active-duty documentation and medical evidence, #5 Filing for direct service connection vs secondary service-connection (secondary to an already service-connected disability). A provided a NEXUS statement that stated the apnea was more than 52% likely to be the cause. You DESERVE a HIGHER VA rating.WE CAN HELP. * The 5 Reasons that 76% of VA Sleep Apnea claims are denied - and how to fix the problem in YOUR case. The disability rating youre given for sleep apnea is combined with any other disability ratings you have, if any, to give you an overall rating based on VA math. This places a disabled veteran in the VA's Group 1 for treatment. By doing so, you necessarily figure out which in-service events are most important to tie to it for purposes of establishing the element of nexus in a service connection claim. The team at Hill & Ponton may be able to assist you with a denial of benefits for sleep apnea. Obstructive Sleep Apnea: aka,OSA, is a type of sleep apnea that occurs when your airway is blocked or obstructed. A C&P exam and a sleep apnea diagnosis are crucial to qualifying for the upper tiers of compensation. 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. Conditions like COPD (due to asbestos. The third part can be satisfied with a nexus Letter from a qualified medical professional, as noted above. No current medical diagnosis (within the last 12 months), or improper diagnosis #3. Just be mindful that a sleep apnea diagnosis isnt all about neck girth and obesity. * SSG Jones got out of the Army never had a sleep study done in the military after serving 2 tours in Iraq and 1 in Afghanistan. If you want to learn how to implement these strategies to get the VA benefits you deserve, click here to speak with a VA claim expert for free. Emerging research indicates a strong association between PTSD and sleep apnea.The link between sleep apnea and PTSD is likely due to the fact that many factors that aggravate PTSD also aggravate sleep apneaincluding sleep deprivation, insomnia, hyperarousal, and daytime sleepiness. Phoenix, AZ: One Renaissance Tower, Two North Central Avenue, 18th & 19th Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85004 He was diagnosed with sleep apnea in 2007, after his military service. If youve filed your VA disability claim and have been denied or have received a low ratingor youre unsure how to get startedreach out to us! If youre experiencing any of the symptoms listed above, and suspect your sleep apnea arose from your time on active duty (or was or aggravated by a currently service-connected disability), you should consider seeking a diagnosis and pursuing compensation for this disability. In this post we'll explore how to get a service connected VA disability rating for Sleep Apnea secondary to Anxiety, even if you've already filed, been denied, or gave up. He was denied support connectio nitrogen for sleep apneas by the BVA, despite extensive proof of treatment for sleep apnea away 2007 - 2014, at VE medical facilities. Exposure to materials such as dust and fumes, and the resulting rhinitis or sinusitis, is also a common issue for veterans thats associated with sleep apnea. A statement from the doctor, and some additional medical evidence regarding those facts, was enough to win the case for sleep apnea, and it is now (at least for this veteran) a service connected condition. 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. * Any damage to your nose, face, mouth, throat, neck, chest, or diaphragm can cause the airway to be obstructed, or the airflow to be limited. Was your obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) VA claim denied? * How to use Medical & Lay Evidence in your Sleep Apnea Claim, * The 39 Conditions KNOWN to cause, aggravate, or be caused by Sleep Apnea, * The 4 Most Common VA Sleep Apnea scenarios and how to prove service connection in each. Since 2016, VA Claims Insider has helped thousands of Veterans just like you get the VA rating and compensation they deserve in less time. Most denials of sleep breathing requirements are due to. This means that a veteran has an already service-connected disability that caused the veteran to have sleep apnea. Traumatic brain injury and physical pain are also conditions that affect many veterans and can lead to sleep apnea. Bottom Line: Understanding YOUR VA Sleep Apnea diagnosis Drives YOUR Claim. Sleep apnea and secondary service connection. Regulation Update: VA Ratings for Kidney Disease and Renal Dysfunction. What makes these 2 VA sleep apnea claims different? No current sleep study within the last 12 months #2. caused or made worse by your active duty military service OR. The second part can be satisfied with your existing service-connected disability rated at 0 percent or higher. I already have 70% for PTSD. Accomplish you want to succeed in your Sleep Apnea VE Impairment Claim? Posted May 20, 2022 (edited) 1. By the way, these examples come directly from 2 actual BVA decisions. All of these can contribute to sleep apnea. 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. Please call for an appointment before visiting: Mail Processing Center: P.O. Evidence. A VA C&P exam concluding that sleep apnea was "less likely than not" related to military service. One common scenario is when a veteran tries to claim sleep apnea as a primary condition when there was no diagnosis during active-duty service. 10 percent disability rating: $165.92 per month. Its free to join and we dont win unless you win.). Conditions like COPD (due to asbestos or particulate exposure in burn pits, for example), blocks the air path at the point where the lungs move oxygen into the blood stream. If your Obstructive Sleep Apnea was caused by damage to your throat focus on the in-service events that caused that damage. Excessive daytime sleepiness is the most noticeable signal for those who live alone.
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