Sleep Apnea and VA

[ND2009]

Greetings CPAP community,
I left active duty service several months back and served a little over five years. I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea by a miiltary physician while I was in the Army and prescribed a CPAP. I wear my CPAP now it is very helpful.

My question is about the VA disability rating. I filed a claim several months back and am wondering what my chances of getting an actual rating will be. I have gotten some conflicting information. The best I can tell from reading the military regulations and from other's post is that I should get the rating.

Any input/thoughts would be appreciated.

Best,
Andrew

[rested gal]

Andrew, I don't know anything about the answer to your question, but do want to thank you for your years of service.

Hope all goes well for you!

[Mike77]

I am not sure about the specific rating. However, I can tell you that you should keep on them. I was not given service connection for other issues my first time around. I found that if you are persistent, they tend to give ratings for qualified disabilities. Even if you get 0%, it means that they will cover your care for related issues.

I strongly recommend working with DAV or VFW. They can help with the paperwork and give advice.

[Guest]

Type CPAP in the top right search box in this http://vets.yuku.com/. You will find more information than you can use.

[Debjax]

Hello Andrew.

I'm not sure how they work it these days, but when I filed my claim in '95, they initially denied part of it, and gave me 10% on another. As advised by my VA Rep, I filed an appeal. When you file an appeal, do not have your hearing by mail, you have the RIGHT to be at the hearing in person, and they will even reimburse your mileage to get there and back. I can't stress the face to face importance of that appeal enough. After my appeal, I was rated at 40% for my conditions.

Have you worked with a VA rep locally (not all are good, but the ones I worked with were) or DVA (Disabled Vets of America) can help.