sleep apnea va claim denied

This places a disabled veteran in the VA's Group 1 for treatment. 20 percent disability rating: $327.99 per month. Weve supported more than 15,000 veterans to win their claims and increase their ratings. 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. Philadelphia, PA: 1 International Plaza, Suite 550, Philadelphia, PA, 19113 Broadly, its defined as the occurrence of five or more breathing-related events per hour, measured by polysomnography (sleep study). #1: Air is pulled in through the nasal passages. PTSD is well-known for causing sleep deprivation, chronic stress, and an increase in body mass or obesity due to prescribed medications. Proposed rating must be based on entire medical history, Must show there has been improvement in veterans functionality, If you have a rating that has remained the same for over five years (stabilized), If you have a total disability rating, meaning 100 percent rating. Since you have already received a denial then you would have to submit a supplemental claim with new evidence and new ARGUMENTS. Sleep Apnea as secondary to PTSD Denied - Denial Letters - VA I will never prove my claim.. How to Claim Sleep Apnea Secondary to PTSD - Rep for Vets Its an essential piece of evidence. Hierher been adenine few people who can write layup statements for your claim. Sleep apnea was noted as the top claimed and granted respiratory condition. sleep apnea secondary connection with PTSD, Denied for Benefits? There are risk factors that overlap in both disorders affecting sleep apnea and symptoms of PTSD, oftentimes aggravating the conditions. Copyright 2023 VA Claims Insider, LLC. If a doctor thinks its highly likely you have sleep apnea, the sleep study may also involve a positive air pressure (PAP) device. Federal Register :: Presumptive Service Connection for Respiratory This examples proves my point, and it is one worth repeating: To recover VA disability compensation in your sleep apnea claim or appeal, first you must know and understand your sleep apnea diagnosis. Obstructive sleep apnea can cause daytime sleepiness, snoring, depression, difficulties with concentration, and loss of memory. book: Put it to Rest: Your VA Sleep Apnea Claim. VETERANS VOICE: Sleep apnea claims often denied - The Leaf-Chronicle In VA sleep apnea claims, medical opinion evidence is the rifle, and lay evidence is the bullet. It can also work in reverse: sleep apnea can lead to other disabilities. 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. 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. Most veterans are underrated for their disabilities and therefore not getting the compensation theyre due. Although all of these symptoms contribute to the interaction betweensleep apnea and PTSD, the main culprits seem to be sleep deprivation and chronic stress. List of the Top 5 Secondary Conditions to PTSD. How does this help you in YOUR VA Sleep Apnea Claims? Follow the steps below to remedy the above-listed typical reasons for denial, and youll be much closer to a winning claim! When he got to the BVA the following evidence was in his C-File: This is the most common route of veterans' claims for sleep apnea. Recently, it has been widely accepted by the, According to theNational Sleep Foundation, insomnia is a chronic sleep disorder, characterized by complaints of unsatisfactory sleep, despite having ample opportunity to sleep. What happens during a C&P exam for sleep apnea? No current sleep study within the last 12 months, #2. * About 2 years after her discharge, she began having sleeping problems. Did the VA Benefit of the Doubt Rule just disappear? Symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea include: If you experience many of these symptoms, we recommend seeing a doctor as soon as possible and seeking a diagnosis. 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. I was however granted 10% for Asthma, as they said I would have gotten 30% if I had meds, which I did, and did submit that as evidence. Why would a VA claim be denied Sleep Apnea? 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. Sleep apnea is a common condition that affects about22 million people nationwide. The same goes for depression and anxietyor any of the 33 mental health conditions rated by the VAwhich can be highly disruptive to sleep. Do you feel tired or sleepy during the day? Need a C&P exam for sleep apnea secondary to PTSD? 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. A study conducted by the VA Healthcare System for San Diego and National Center for PTSD found that between 40 percent and 98 percent (!) 5 Star Evidence is KEY to a VA sleep apnea disability claim. Research shows a strong correlation between deployments and sleep disorders, and sleep apnea is extremely common among veterans. 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). Pittsburgh, PA: 201 Penn Center Boulevard, Suite 400, Pittsburgh, PA, 15235 Some veterans with sleep apnea may experience improvement with lifestyle changes, but CPAP therapy is still among the most common treatments. You're not alone. Travis Studdard is an attorney who focuses on representing veterans in VA disability compensation claims. Copyright 2023 Hill & Ponton, P.A.. All Rights Reserved. This can range from CPAP therapy, lifestyle changes such as diet, exercise, and others. Please call for an appointment before visiting: Mail Processing Center: P.O. Cleveland, OH: 600 Superior Ave. East, Fifth Third Building, Suite 1300, Cleveland, OH, 44114 This is because the fact is that many veterans suffer from PTSDand sleep problems are a common symptom of PTSD. Check out the VA Sleep Apnea Field Manual. For this reason, a secondary service connection for sleep apnea is much more common. How to Use one VA Lay Display to Win Your Disabled Claims 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. 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. Disability Denials LTD Insurance Denial Attorneys - National Disability Law Firm A National Disability Benefits Law Firm Home About Us Attorneys Our Legal Staff Client Services Brian Reese here, Air Force service-disabled Veteran and Founder @ VA Claims Insider. There isnt a single rating for sleep apnea, but a range of ratings depending on the severity of your condition (as is true for other disability ratings). 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. Learn what youve been missing so you can FINALLY get the disability rating and compensation youve earned for your service. Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder in which breathing is briefly and repeatedly interrupted during sleep. If you have a service-connected disability aggravating or causing your sleep apnea, you may be eligible to get service connection for sleep apnea on a secondary basis. www.va.gov Why? Contact Us How to File a Claim on VA.gov (step-by-step)! You're not alone. Therefore, a well-crafted nexus letter for sleep apnea is the single most crucial document a veteran can provide the VA adjudicator to help prove service connection on an at least as likely as not basis. 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 Hypersomnolence (i.e., excessive daytime sleepiness), Mental anxiety and/or depression related to combat, Use of alcohol, sedatives, certain medications or tranquilizers. Her husband told her she would snore loudly and wake up in the night often stopping breathing. All Rights Reserved. She enjoys working with the Veteran population and keeping them up to date with information they need the most. There are many different symptoms that go, Sleep apnea is a common medical condition that can be caused by many different factors, including conditions like Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Sleep apnea can make it hard for your brain to regulate blood flows in your arteries and in the brain itself. Youd focus on the things that caused nerve damage that led to the central sleep apnea, brain trauma, or brain chemistry, for example. See our tips on how to obtain a credible nexus letter, Both sinusitis and rhinitis are linked to sleep apnea, Emerging research indicates a strong association between PTSD and sleep apnea, You Deserve It: The Definitive Guide to Getting the Veteran Benefits Youve Earned, 9 Secrets Strategies for Winning Your VA Disability Claim, Disrupted breathing in which a persons respiration can become labored or even stop for up to a minute at a time, Limited attention span or difficulty thinking clearly, Snoring, including snoring that is especially loud and involves gasping, choking, or snorting that may cause a person to briefly wake up, #1. She has also spent several years working with the Department of Veterans Affairs audiology programs in Salt Lake City, UT and Pocatello, ID. Veterans NEED Information and Education to Improve their VA Sleep Apnea Appeals. The denial of disability claims for unconfirmed, undiagnosed sleep apnea is a regular occurrence for the VA. This is especially relevant for veterans diagnosed with sleep apnea long after leaving the military. When he got to the BVA the following evidence was in his C-File: A VA C&P exam concluding that sleep apnea was less likely than not related to military service. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Do you currently smoke, or have you smoked in the past? Obstructive sleep apnea is estimated to affect between 2-9% of adults (about 15 million Americans) but is believed to be frequently undiagnosed. 10 percent disability rating: $165.92 per month. 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. 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. 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. In a study of veterans, PTSD symptom severity increased the risk of screening positive for OSA. Lesson learned:Lay Evidence is the Bullet, and Medical Evidence is the rifle. Was it the blow to the throat when you were thrown against the side of the Hum-vee in that mortar attack? A 50% rating would be given if treatment was ineffective or you were unable to use therapies due to another condition. Many of them have been diagnosed with the condition many years after leaving active duty. Thats the original copyright date, Marcus; the ebook version in the bookstore is the 2nd edition, updated in 2016. We are sorry that this post was not as useful for you! Camp Lejeune Lawsuit. The symptoms have disappeared or are not severe enough to cause any issues. Sleep Apnea Denial Looking for some direction from people that have received rating for sleep apnea. A disability with a secondary service connection is a condition that was caused or made worse by an already existing service-connected condition. Regardless of whether you are dealing with OSA, its important to pursue all the benefits available to you as a veteran. 30 percent disability rating: $508.05 per month. 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. Im not going to talk about it much here because Im not seeing it in VA claims and appeals just yet. Dear Veteran, Heres the brutal truth about VA disability claims: According to our data, 8/10 (80%) of veterans reading this message right now are underrated by the VA. 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. Denied again. An obstruction or a problem anywhere along that path of air, can cause Obstructive Sleep Apnea. * 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. Sleep apnea can be aggravated by PTSD (secondary to PTSD), also an extremely common disorder for veterans. Is a CPAP machine the only treatment for sleep apnea? If you need a lawyer, fill out a contact form at the law firm of Attig Steel: https://www.attigsteel.com/contact-us/. He was denied service connection for sleep apnea by the BVA, despite extensive evidence of treatment for sleep apnea from 2007 2014, at VA medical facilities. A sleep apnea VA rating can be reduced by the VA. Your final VA Disability Rating for Insomnia depends upon the Top 5 Reasons for Obstructive Sleep Apnea Claim Denials (Plus OSA Service Connection Tips), Steps and Strategies: How to Prove Service Connection for Sleep Apnea, Step #1: Get a NEW Sleep Study (within the past 12 months), Step #2: Obtain a medical diagnosis of sleep apnea from a sleep specialist, Step #3: Get a nexus letter for sleep apnea from a credible independent medical professional, Lack of Medical Evidence is the #1 Reason VA Claims are Denied, Step #4: Consider secondary service connection instead of direct service connection, Secondary Service Connection Requirements.

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