filling for second cause a reavauation ?

[novass]

 I'm %30 percent for asthma and have just been diagnosed for sleep apnea ( off the scale) from a civilian doctor,( cpap machine etc )

 

 it took 2 years to nail sleep apnea down because they misread my first test from 2 years ago...that's another story

 

 I m worried if I put in for sleep apnea will they want to reevaluate my asthma? I will turn 55 in a month, should I wait to file?

 

 what would the combined be, %50 because apnea is rated higher or %65 for both combined?

[Vync]

If you ask different people, you'll probably get different opinions on re-evals. If the VA wants to perform a re-eval, they can do it at any time. However, if you had your rating for 5+ years, they would have to prove continued sustained improvement in order to reduce and it would likely require more than a single exam to do it. Even if they did propose a reduction, they would give you notification ahead of time so you could contest it.

For asthma ratings, ratings are usually based on FEV/FVC1 %'s or the type of medication you take for it. Without knowing how your 30% was rated, I'll just give you a brief hypothetical overview:

 

6602   Asthma, bronchial:
FEV-1 less than 40-percent predicted, or; FEV-1/FVC less than 40 percent, or; more than one attack per week with episodes of respiratory failure, or; requires daily use of systemic (oral or parenteral) high dose corticosteroids or immuno-suppressive medications	100
FEV-1 of 40- to 55-percent predicted, or; FEV-1/FVC of 40 to 55 percent, or; at least monthly visits to a physician for required care of exacerbations, or; intermittent (at least three per year) courses of systemic (oral or parenteral) corticosteroids	60
FEV-1 of 56- to 70-percent predicted, or; FEV-1/FVC of 56 to 70 percent, or; daily inhalational or oral bronchodilator therapy, or; inhalational anti-inflammatory medication	30
FEV-1 of 71- to 80-percent predicted, or; FEV-1/FVC of 71 to 80 percent, or; intermittent inhalational or oral bronchodilator therapy	10
Note: In the absence of clinical findings of asthma at time of examination, a verified history of asthmatic attacks must be of record.

 

The 30% rating has four possible ways to qualify. If you take steroid inhalers or bronchodilators daily to treat your asthma, you should be pretty solid, despite what the FEV-1/FVC results show.

One thing many veterans with asthma overlook is the 60% criteria. Some may qualify for an increase and not even know it. If you received 3+ steroid courses for treatment of asthma within a 12 month window, it should qualify. Keep in mind that the VA would view that as a "temporary increase because you are expected to improve". After about a year, they would re-eval to determine if you still met the 60% criteria and either continue or reduce the rating accordingly.

 

Per the Hadit calculator: http://www.hadit.com/disability-calculator

...50% + 30% = 65%, which should round up to 70%

 

I'm not 55 yet, so I'll defer to others who might have filed after turning 55.

 

 

Keep in mind that you'll need the following for direct SC:
1. Event/injury/presumptive from in-service
2. Current diagnosis
3. Medical nexus connecting 1 and 2 (as likely as not, more/ likely, due to/caused by)

Keep in mind that you'll need the following for secondary SC:
1. Existing SC condition (assume asthma in your case)
2. Current diagnosis
3. Medical nexus connecting 1 and 2 (as likely as not, more/ likely, due to/caused by)