Hey all.....AD AF and just hit 20 yrs last month.  I was diagnosed with Severe OSA back in early April and have gone through the MEB process.  If there are any questions regarding the process for the AF, I will answer what I know from experience.  I was really an easy process with not much involvement from me.  From what my PCM told me...is that now and days sleep apnea is becoming more and more common that the MEB is just a process and not something to medically discharge folks for--provided you don't have other issues.  

Pac Man

A friend of mine works at my local vetrans outreach cener and she told me that if you are diagnosed with osa while you are still on active duty it is considered a20% disability and you can draw 200hundred dollars amonth

JOE....

it's 50% if you are on a X PAP of some sort and I believe 30% otherwise....I'll pull up a source later if you need it and the $$ amount for disability varies depending on whether or not you have dependents or not and what your final % rating is.

Pac Man

thanks Pacman,but Iwas not diagnosed while on active duty.I was found unfit for duty in1992.because almost allmy time was in reserves I would never take anything from the VA.there are too many combat vets who need help more than me.

JOE....

As promised, a refernce from VA's Schedule of Rating under Respiratory System:
There is no 20% rating for Sleep Apnea--it's either 0, 30, 50, or 100%...  The hard thing for folks to do is get a rating when being diagnosed after getting out of the military.  The burden of proof lies solely on the vet at that point. With being diagnosed and having my med records documented while still active duty, it'll make dealing with the VA a bit easier.  I would opt for the surgery, but I'm not satisfied with the success rate....needs to be much higher for me to go through with it.  By the way....thanks for your service.  

6847     Sleep Apnea Syndromes (Obstructive, Central, Mixed):

        Chronic respiratory failure with carbon dioxide retention or cor
            pulmonale, or; requires tracheostomy    100  
        Requires use of breathing assistance device such as continuous
            airway pressure (CPAP) machine    50  
        Persistent day-time hypersomnolence     30
        Asymptomatic but with documented sleep disorder breathing    0

Pac Man

[quote="Anonymous"]I'm a soldier in the U.S. Army. I had convulsions like symptons about a year ago. I had a sleep study about 10 months ago. They lost my results. So now I'm deploying to Iraq Shortly. I also have Acid Reflux. I wake up with headaches, snore tired all the time, bad memory,Etc... After I eat I have trouble breatheing. My unit Doctor told me it is't serious. How true is it and how long to you have to sleep apnea for it to be serious, or can you wait another year to maybe fix it????[/quote

If the military did the sleep study it should be in ALTA. I just got MED boarded out of the Army, where I received nothing for my confirmed and documented OSA. However, you may or may not be deemed unable to deploy (no such decision for you since you are deployed!) but a diagnosis could prevent further deployments. OSA is compensated by the VA as a disability, if you are close to seperation. The CENTCOM guidance is not to allow deployment, but there are plenty of guys in the sandlot with CPAP machines.

REDABOGADO....

I'm confused by your post...forgive me for that.  You said you were MED boarded out of the Army with confirmed/documented OSA and you received no VA disability rating for it once you got out and the paperwork was processed to VA?  Something isn't kosher....are you on a XPAP machine?  If so, you need to push for the 50% through your local VA reps and use them for their knowledge and assistance.  If you aren't on an XPAP then you could be good for 30% if there is daytime sleepiness still.  You didn't say whether you were on a machine and what level of OSA you have (mild, severe...etc).  

Pac Man


_________________
ResMed VPAP Auto 25 -- started 10 Sep 09
Mirage Quattro--starts tonight (16 Sep)
Mirage Liberty--failed due to high pressures
F&P Forma -- Tore up bridge of nose
Opus 360 -- Turned into mouth breather

PacMan4x4 wrote:

REDABOGADO....

I'm confused by your post...forgive me for that.  You said you were MED boarded out of the Army with confirmed/documented OSA and you received no VA disability rating for it once you got out and the paperwork was processed to VA?  Something isn't kosher....are you on a XPAP machine?  If so, you need to push for the 50% through your local VA reps and use them for their knowledge and assistance.  If you aren't on an XPAP then you could be good for 30% if there is daytime sleepiness still.  You didn't say whether you were on a machine and what level of OSA you have (mild, severe...etc).  

Pac Man

Sorry for the confusion. The Army gave me nothing for OSA, the VA has yet to rate me, but I anticipate 50% for OSA. The Army gave me nothing for other problems as well, but I have told the VA will.

RED.....

The Army isn't the one that provides the disability ratings--the VA does.  As long as they are working your claim then you should be good per the schedule of rating for respiratory system disability.  It was a good thing you got it documented and put on machine prior to getting out of the Army as it makes fighting for ratings a lot easier.  I'm still active duty and have been doing a lot of reading/research and seeing what kind of problems folks have when dealing with VA....the biggest headaches I see are trying to get back ratings for med issues after you are out of the service and trying to convince VA that issues are service connected.  Good luck to ya and keep us informed--thanks for your service.

Pac Man


_________________
ResMed VPAP Auto 25 -- started 10 Sep 09
Mirage Quattro--starts tonight (16 Sep)
Mirage Liberty--failed due to high pressures
F&P Forma -- Tore up bridge of nose
Opus 360 -- Turned into mouth breather

PacMan4x4 wrote:

RED.....

The Army isn't the one that provides the disability ratings--the VA does.  As long as they are working your claim then you should be good per the schedule of rating for respiratory system disability.  It was a good thing you got it documented and put on machine prior to getting out of the Army as it makes fighting for ratings a lot easier.  I'm still active duty and have been doing a lot of reading/research and seeing what kind of problems folks have when dealing with VA....the biggest headaches I see are trying to get back ratings for med issues after you are out of the service and trying to convince VA that issues are service connected.  Good luck to ya and keep us informed--thanks for your service.

Pac Man

Thanks for the opportunity to explain. The Army DOES assign disability ratings for the purposes of eligibility for medical retirement. One must get at least 30% to receive benefits. I have 5 distinct medical problems (including OSA) but the Army only rated me on my knees, and although documented the others were service related, they refused to consider them as a condition which makes me "unfit" for duty via the MED/PED board. The condition must render you "unfit", then the Army assigns a disability rating using the VA standards. It does not matter if you have a profile or non-deployable. The MED board decides what is "unfit" and therefore what gets rated for disability.

RED.....

We have a similar deal when we go to MEB--there is an internal rating deal such as what you went through in the Army as to whether one is still fit for duty.  Of course, with SA in the AF and I believe the Army has gone this route too from what I've ready--they don't med discharge based solely on SA.  The rating the Army has doesn't have any bearing on what the VA gives.  What I mean by that is....just becasue the Army didn't consider it dischargeable and somewhat irrelevant, the VA will evaluate what is documented in your records and what you said for your pre-separation physical with VA.  If it is documented as you said--though I'm assuming you are currenlty on some sort of XPAP--you haven't come right out and said it, then the VA has no reason not to grant you the 50% per their own schedule of rating that I pasted in several posts up.  The VA rating is the one that matters...the military ratings as they call it are for internal determinations of what value illnesses are for discharge and fit for duty determination as you eluded to.  How long have you been waiting for your VA rating?

Pac Man


_________________
ResMed VPAP Auto 25 -- started 10 Sep 09
Mirage Quattro--starts tonight (16 Sep)
Mirage Liberty--failed due to high pressures
F&P Forma -- Tore up bridge of nose
Opus 360 -- Turned into mouth breather

PacMan4x4 wrote:

RED.....

We have a similar deal when we go to MEB--there is an internal rating deal such as what you went through in the Army as to whether one is still fit for duty.  Of course, with SA in the AF and I believe the Army has gone this route too from what I've ready--they don't med discharge based solely on SA.  The rating the Army has doesn't have any bearing on what the VA gives.  What I mean by that is....just becasue the Army didn't consider it dischargeable and somewhat irrelevant, the VA will evaluate what is documented in your records and what you said for your pre-separation physical with VA.  If it is documented as you said--though I'm assuming you are currenlty on some sort of XPAP--you haven't come right out and said it, then the VA has no reason not to grant you the 50% per their own schedule of rating that I pasted in several posts up.  The VA rating is the one that matters...the military ratings as they call it are for internal determinations of what value illnesses are for discharge and fit for duty determination as you eluded to.  How long have you been waiting for your VA rating?

Pac Man

I am on terminal leave from the Army until 11/17/2009. The VA has all my records and have completed their own med exam and have told me they are not allowed to tell me my rating until I am off the payroll. VA does have a mechanism for a "memorandum" rating for the purposes of receiving services from VA Voc. Rehab. pending discharge from active duty. By the way, I am on a CPAP with O2 hook-up and have been for 2 years.

RED>>>>

You are on track for where you need to be.....true, the VA will not even process your paperowork for disability rating unitl you are officially out (retired/separated)--it's the law.  From that point it will be a couple of months before they come back with a rating.  It seems you have everything in order and hopefully by being prepared, your process will go a bit faster than others who don't have things lined up and ready to go.  Unless you have something that by itself is more than 50%....you should get 50% for SA and then the other items that are say 10% or 0% etc will be calculated from that point using the VA math.  For example...you'll get 50% for SA, then they'll use your left knee which may have a rating of 20% (hypothetical scenario here).  what they do is say you are 50% disable and 50% healthy so the 20% for your knee is is calculated on your 50% that is healthy...not added to the 50% for SA.  Confused yet?  So, 20% of 50 is 10...now you have a disability rating of 60%.  If you had something like bi-lateral tinnitus that is 10%, it will be factored on the fact that you are 60% disabled and 40 percent healthy--10% of 40 is 4 so now you are 64% disabled, but they only deal in increments of 10, so you won't quite make it to 70 yet...that's why you'll see where folks have like 120% of disability if everything is added together, but only get a rating of say 70 or 80%.  Hope everything works out for you and you get all that is deserving to you--keep us informed.  Glad we were able to keep this form going with some newer information.

Pac Man


_________________
ResMed VPAP Auto 25 -- started 10 Sep 09
Mirage Quattro--starts tonight (16 Sep)
Mirage Liberty--failed due to high pressures
F&P Forma -- Tore up bridge of nose
Opus 360 -- Turned into mouth breather

PacMan4x4 wrote:

RED>>>>

You are on track for where you need to be.....true, the VA will not even process your paperowork for disability rating unitl you are officially out (retired/separated)--it's the law.  From that point it will be a couple of months before they come back with a rating.  It seems you have everything in order and hopefully by being prepared, your process will go a bit faster than others who don't have things lined up and ready to go.  Unless you have something that by itself is more than 50%....you should get 50% for SA and then the other items that are say 10% or 0% etc will be calculated from that point using the VA math.  For example...you'll get 50% for SA, then they'll use your left knee which may have a rating of 20% (hypothetical scenario here).  what they do is say you are 50% disable and 50% healthy so the 20% for your knee is is calculated on your 50% that is healthy...not added to the 50% for SA.  Confused yet?  So, 20% of 50 is 10...now you have a disability rating of 60%.  If you had something like bi-lateral tinnitus that is 10%, it will be factored on the fact that you are 60% disabled and 40 percent healthy--10% of 40 is 4 so now you are 64% disabled, but they only deal in increments of 10, so you won't quite make it to 70 yet...that's why you'll see where folks have like 120% of disability if everything is added together, but only get a rating of say 70 or 80%.  Hope everything works out for you and you get all that is deserving to you--keep us informed.  Glad we were able to keep this form going with some newer information.

Pac Man

You are correct on the math. Also, recent change in law allows one to keep all their disability pay and retirement pay. (no more offset as in the past)

True Dat'......60 or 70% is a nice check to get every month tax free  


_________________
ResMed VPAP Auto 25 -- started 10 Sep 09
Mirage Quattro--starts tonight (16 Sep)
Mirage Liberty--failed due to high pressures
F&P Forma -- Tore up bridge of nose
Opus 360 -- Turned into mouth breather