There are a lot of retired Senior Military Officers and NCOs with sleep apnea. It seems like the percent that do have it, exceeds the population at large. That may just be my perception. So, when the VA starts talking about changing the rating for sleep apnea, people pay attention. Well, they're proposing that along with some other changes.
VA Sleep Apnea Proposed Disability Rating Changes
Let's start with an important safety notice. According to the VA, if you currently have a rating for sleep apnea, the proposed changes will not affect your rating. But if you're going to retire at some point in the future, the magic 50% from sleep apnea may be at risk.
According to the VA's official blog site, if sleep apnea symptoms are fully treated by a CPAP machine or other treatment, you will be rated at 0% and like all other 0% rating you won't receive any disability compensation. If you have symptoms after treatment, you'll receive a higher rating depending on how bad the symptoms are.
Other Proposed Changes to VA Disability Ratings
The VA is also proposing the following:
Lowering the requirements for a 100% rating for those with respiratory conditions such as asthma and COPD
Changes that would recognize the symptom of tinnitus and provide service-connected compensation through the disease to which it is attributed
Increase the minimum rating for mental health conditions from 0% to 10% and would allow a 100% rating for a mental health condition even if the Veteran can work.
Military Finances are Different
We suspect that if you talk to most financial advisors about the impact of VA Disability changes on your financial future, you'd get a blank stare. That's why we think you should work with a Financial Advisor or Planner that deals with military and Veteran financial issues each and every day. If you'd like to talk about how we do that give us a call or use the button at the bottom of the page to schedule a free initial consultation.
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