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New Regs For Sleep Apnea May Be Coming

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AmicusBrief

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  • Content Curator/HadIt.com Elder

Seen this news before, but the article's math doesn't add up.

They state this:

"As of Oct. 1, a total of 143,278 vets were rated disabled by sleep apnea, and 89 percent of their ratings were at least 50 percent."

And this:

"$822 to $1088 a month, depending on family size"

And then this:

"VA didn't compensate for sleep apnea before 1996. In 2013, VA apnea payments likely totaled between $1.5 billion to $2 billion a year."

Even if all 143,278 vets were rated 100%, let alone 50% due to SA, and got an average of $3000 per month, that totals $429.8 million, not $1.5 to $2 billion a year. To get the totals they claim, there would have to be 1.5 to 2 million vets being SC for SA at 50%.

Opponents also don't realize that the RO is not rubber stamping SC requests either nor do they realize the difficult uphill battle of getting SC for SA.

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What a shameful article! Thanks for posting it!

It reads as if there will be a push to reduce or restructure the OSA rating regs fairly soon. But this should be no surprise. Those of us who served are being seen as a huge drag on the federal budget, especially those of us who retired from the military. Just like what the Pentagon has been telling Congress about us retirees, the numbers don't add up. So by twisting the truth especially in the press, they can gain their end of reducing the compensation we earned by carrying the defense and security of this nation on our backs to the point it left a permanent mark.

Instead of complaining that a bunch of us have OSA and we're being compensated for it, maybe someone ought to look into why so many service members are developing OSA and prevent it?

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Absolutely. The whole point is to downplay service connected disabilities that are normally invisible, as in "if they're not visible, they're not compensatable."

We just cost the nation too much...but never mind what the nation has cost us!

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  • HadIt.com Elder

Now as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are about to end expect the abuse of disabled vets to start with pointing fingers at us, and accusing us of being fakers, overpaid, lazy, and that our disabilities are the result of the desire for free money. To discredit the people you want to rob is the first step. I remember Vietnam and the way the VA treated me in those days. When the public starts to see you as being somehow undeserving you as part of a group are in trouble. Some of the most hawkish people in congress believe that vets are overcompensated. These are people who never put on a uniform, but were cheerleaders of our military adventures. Damn the cost, full speed ahead into the "Big Muddy".

I do agree 100% that invisible disabilities will get a new look if budget hawks get their way. We do need to speak up for ourselves since nobody else will do it.

John

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I know I'm starting to get pissed over this stuff. I think I may begin hanging out in front of the local recuiter's office and have a talk with the young guys/gals going in the door. Maybe hand out silicone wristbands with the number of pending disability claims printed on them.

Edited by AmicusBrief
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