Va Sleep Apnea Rating:
If you are a veteran, or a family member of a veteran, whose work has been affected by their disability and who would like to appeal a VA benefits decision, we would like to speak with you. Sleep apnea is known to be connected with nasal allergy conditions, including chronic sinusitis and rhinitis. Additionally, a rating of at least 30 percent may qualify you for additional compensation if you have a dependent spouse, children, or parents. The air pressure is somewhat greater than that of the surrounding air, allowing upper airway passages to remain open, thus preventing apnea and snoring. For those who’ve served in the military, the rigors and stresses of service can often exacerbate or contribute to this condition. Sleep apnea, particularly Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), is a significant concern for many veterans, with over a half a million veterans service-connected for the condition.
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If you suspect your sleep apnea developed while you served your country, or is the result of another medical condition (i.e. PTSD) you should apply for VA disability benefits. However, the majority of sleep apnea claims currently get denied by the U.S. military which is why compensation is not guaranteed at the 30% rating. Unfortunately, sleep apnea is one of the more difficult medical conditions to receive a VA rating unless there is a clear diagnosis. What this means it the VA will not approve disability benefits unless the patient can link the medical condition to time served in the military. Moreover, a veteran may establish a service connection for sleep apnea through a secondary basis. The VA rates sleep apnea at a 50% rating if you need a breathing device to assist with your sleeping habits.
Linking secondary sleep apnea to PTSD is the most common way to connect your disability to your service. If you have more than one disability connected to your service, you will receive a combined rating. The VA uses the Combined Ratings Table to calculate a combined rating for veterans with multiple service-connected disabilities. An individual must suffer from those particular symptoms to qualify for a given rating. We have years of experience successfully advocating for VA disability appeals for our veteran clients ‘ including those diagnosed with sleep apnea.
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There are veterans that do not receive a high enough rating to qualify for disability yet may still receive benefits through alternate programs. The 50% rating can have a noticeable impact on your overall combined rating and compensation received. The military grants this liability rating when the patient requires a breathing device to assist with sleeping and getting rest. There are factors that overlap in both medical conditions that may aggravate or negatively affect the other disorder. The sleep study enables medical professionals to study a patient while they are resting to confirm a diagnosis.
Therefore, many service members are subject to misinformation or interpretation when filing a VA disability claim. Sleep apnea can affect people of all ages, and service members are proving to be extra vulnerable to the medical condition. Moreover, most patients with a form of sleep apnea report either difficulty staying asleep (insomnia) or excessive sleep patterns (hypersomnia).
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The two most common types of sleep apnea generally affect the muscles in your throat that control breathing. The military utilizes VA disability ratings to determine the severity of the Obstructive, Central, or Mixed Sleep Apnea. If there’s any evidence suggesting your sleep get redirected here apnea is unrelated to your service, don’t ignore it. Instead, ask your doctor to explain why they believe it’s connected despite those factors. Lastly, a recent study has shown that people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are more likely to suffer from sleep apnea.
People with a deviated septum will often breathe out of their mouth, especially at night, because their oxygen level is too low. Excessive mouth breathing can lead to dry mouth, sinus pressure, and mild sleep apnea. This is the VA’s primary plan for treating Veterans with sleep apnea but doctors will also prescribe changes in your diet and amount of exercise as well as stress reduction techniques for improved nighttime breathing.
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Sleep apnea doesn’t just affect Veterans in the ways a sleep study would capture. As the proposed rule is written, you would not get any compensation for asymptomatic sleep apnea. Ten percent would be awarded if treatment for sleep apnea gives only incomplete relief. A 50 percent rating would be assigned if treatment was ineffective or you can’t use treatments because of another condition.
The condition is given a serious VA disability rating because of sleep apnea’s ability to cause grave long-term damage. Documenting sleep apnea treatment of a diagnosis while in service can be challenging since most active duty personnel are taught to push through tiredness to complete their missions. Veterans are also often reluctant to seek help if they are chronically tired or have a series of poor night’s sleep. This is why linking sleep apnea to another condition from their time in the military is often the primary course of action. A doctor must certify through a nexus letter that your sleep apnea is as likely to have been caused by some service connected condition. You must undergo a clinical sleep study that will include connecting you to diagnostic equipment to measure your sleep patterns and nighttime symptoms, including an elevated heart rate and irregular breathing.
Additionally, VA issued an opinion from its Office of General Counsel stating that while veterans cannot receive disability benefits for obesity, it can be used as an intermediary step. For example, say a veteran has a service-connected orthopedic condition preventing them from exercising and thereby causing weight gain (i.e., obesity). In this case, while there is not a direct connection between the service-connected orthopedic condition and sleep apnea, they are linked together by obesity. Since the service-connected orthopedic condition caused obesity that then caused the sleep disorder, VA should grant service connection for sleep apnea on a secondary basis. Examples of service-connected conditions that may lead to sleep apnea include chronic rhinitis, asthma, a deviated septum, or diabetes mellitus type 2.
So, in addition to providing the prescription for your breathing assistance device, you’ll also need to include a statement from your physician attesting to the medical need for the device. Again, your veteran’s disability attorney can help you work with your physician on this. Department of Veterans Affairs (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 much harder to qualify for. As of May 2023, this proposed change is still under review but could have future impacts when applying for benefits.
Are you one of the 25,000 veterans awarded service connection for obstructive sleep apnea just last year? Are you one of the 13 percent of approximately 427,000 post 9/11 veterans who this page draw compensation benefits and have service-connected sleep apnea? If you are, you are among the more than 114,000 veterans that are already drawing compensation for sleep apnea.
In other words, there must be a current diagnosis, an onset, event or cause in service, and a link or ‘nexus’ between those two. Obesity, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension are all considered some of the strongest risk factors for developing sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can make people tired, causing them to get less exercise, which can lead to obesity. Excess body weight in an obese person can put extra pressure on a person’s upper airways, causing damage and complications over time and leading to sleep apnea.
If VA considers your sleep apnea permanent in nature, meaning they are reasonably certain that the condition will continue with zero or close to zero chance of improvement, you will not be scheduled for a re-examination. Generally, sleep apnea is not automatically rated a permanent disability by VA, but if a veteran meets certain qualifications, they may be able to secure lifelong compensation. For mild cases, doctors may suggest lifestyle changes such as losing weight or quitting smoking, if applicable. In more serious cases, doctors may prescribe the use of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine. A veterans final VA disability rating for Sleep Apnea depends upon the frequency, severity, and duration of symptoms, meaning, the more severe your symptoms, the higher the VA rating for Sleep Apnea. Individual Unemployability benefits serve as a safety net for veterans that can’t work but are unable to obtain a 100% rating.
The VA rates sleep apnea at a 30% rating if you experience hypersomnolence or excessive daytime sleepiness. Part of the problem is the VA has altered its rules for assigning sleep apnea disability ratings and providing benefits over the years. Winning a VA disability claim for sleep apnea and similar respiratory conditions is an uphill battle, but source it isn’t impossible. With the information presented here, you can work with us to evaluate the strength of your sleep apnea disability claim and decide whether applying for VA disability compensation is the best path for you. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recognizes both sleep apnea and tinnitus as service-connected disabilities.