Va Disability Asthma And Sleep Apnea

The VA rates sleep apnea under 38 CFR 497 Diagnostic Code 6847.

Va disability asthma and sleep apnea. Yes Sleep Apnea is a VA disability and its rated under diagnostic code 6847 Sleep Apnea Syndromes Obstructive Central Mixed. 6847 Sleep Apnea Syndromes Obstructive Central Mixed. We go into greater detail about VA disability ratings for sleep apnea in this post. The most common VA rating for Sleep Apnea is 50 which requires the use of a breathing assistance device such as Continuous Positive Airway Pressure CPAP machine.

Lets assume that a veteran has two respiratory conditions. They will need to demonstrate the following to VA to be granted secondary service connection for sleep apnea. If you have been granted service-connected disability compensation for bronchial asthma and have been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea you may be entitled to receive VA compensation for sleep apnea as well. Sleep apnea was the predominant disability providing the a higher disability evaluation than the asthma.

There is a regulation at 38 CFR 496 a that states for certain respiratory diagnostic codes a single rating will be assigned for the predominant disability. They said a separate compensable evaluation for asthma is not warranted as the functional impairment imposed by this condition is the same as that due to my Sleep Apnea. The VA increased my 0 AR to 30 and rated me at 30 for Asthma but lumped my Asthma in with Sleep Apnea and continued the current 30 rating. Many times sleep apnea is secondary to asthma for a VA rating.

Effective Feb 2005 a 50 disability evaluation was assigned to bronchial asthma with obstructive sleep apnea. 100 Requires use of breathing assistance device such as continuous airway pressure CPAP machine. When its hard to breathe during the day because of asthma and hard to sleep at night because of sleep apnea you deserve separate ratings for asthma and sleep apnea. If you suffer from both make that case with the VA.

Medical evidence showing the relationship between their service-connected asthma and their sleep apnea. 496 prevents the veteran from receiving both ratings so we have to find the predominant disability which in this case would be asthma. Recent medical research discusses the bidirectional relationship between sleep apnea and asthma and several studies support the finding of asthma worsening sleep apnea and vice versa. The main problem is that you didnt get a medical diagnosis of sleep apnea while on active duty and you never did a sleep study.

While sleep apnea and asthma often can be linked as respiratory disorders their symptoms are different enough that many veterans wonder if they can receive separate VA disability ratings for each. Many veterans attempt to service-connect sleep apnea as a primary disability condition and cant seem to figure our why the VA keeps denying your sleep apnea claim. 50 Persistent day-time hypersomnolence. Since sleep apnea justified the higher rating the are combining the asthma with your sleep apnea.

There are direct mechanical effects of asthma worsening sleep apnea beyond its natural progression. This code is designated to cover all sleep apnea syndromes including those associated with the obstructive central and mixed forms of the condition. Chronic respiratory failure with carbon dioxide retention or cor pulmonale or. A diagnosis of sleep apnea.

So the 30 rating for Asthma does me no good at all.