VA Claim keeps being put into a storage facility instead of being worked on?

I will keep this as short as possible: I am currently rated at 30% for sleep apnea. I put a claim in Marc '08 to raise my sleep apnea rating to a higher percentage. I acquired a CPAP machine for my sleep apnea so I should now be automatically rated at 50%.

This is a VA website, look at 6847, it clearly states with a CPAP machine it is rated 50%. Plus I have had VA reps and the American Legion admit to that fact.
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/get-cfr.cgi?TITLE=38&PART=4&SECTION=97&YEAR=2003&TYPE=PDF

Well, it seems like an open and shut case to me but my file seems to keep ending up in the storage facility instead of being worked on, today when I talked to them, it will be the third time this has happened. It has been over a year, I am now wanting to write a senator, but have no clue on the respectful approach to this and what i should include in my letter if anything at all. And how to choose a senator properly. Do I follow up with the senator and how do I do that?

I am frustrated and confused on the next step...thank you very much for the help.
Additional Details
I live in CA, thank you very much, calling first is a good idea......

Peter M

Chad, I am a 66 year old retired Air Force Master Sergeant diagnosed with, among many other medical problems, prostate cancer. I used the Microsoft documents program that came with my computer to get the proper format for a formal letter and wrote the best one I could come up with to my Congresswoman, Kay Granger. I spent hours drafting and re-drafting the letter to do the absolute best job I could with it explaining why I felt the VA had me on a very far back burner with my problem. Although the VA, by their own publications acknowledged my prostate cancer was caused by Agent Orange that I was exposed to while spending two tours in Vietnam, I was seemingly getting slow attention to my claim for disability. She worked wonders for me. Within weeks, not months, I was scheduled for three appointments at the VA Hospital in Dallas, Texas and about 6 months later received a 100% disability. I had explained to the Congresswoman that I feared I would die before my claim was given any attention and I included all the information I could when sending the letter to her office. I told her I was doing so knowing it might be too much information. I also said that while I understood the tremendous workload created by the wounded men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan on an understaffed and over-worked VA staff, I felt I needed her help to get my problem resolved before it was too late. Overall, it took over a year for me to get my claim taken care of and I was already in their system since 1980! Even though I was in the system and retired from the AF since 1980, I had to provide proof I was even in Vietnam! Good luck Chad!

jlf

Contact your congressman's/woman's office. They have liaison staff to help constituents dealing with the federal bureaucracy. You will get faster results from your Representative than you will from a Senator.

Mr Puma

Use the two sites below. Find your Senator/ Rep home page. There will be a link "CONTACT US". Fill it in and click "send". You will get an email back in a few minutes saying it had been received. It will be re-routed to their Veterans assistant who will help you.
Keep in mind Senators and Reps cannot influence the out come of a VA claim.
Check your medical records for the wording regarding your CPAP. If the Dr. wrote "NEEDS" a CPAP or would "BENEFIT" from the use of a CPAP. If it's the later, than you might be stuck at 30%. You really have to watch how things are worded.
BTW, you can get copies of your medical records at the hospital. Go to the Release of Information office and fill out the VA form 10-5345a. They will mail them to you in a few days.

Side note: I'vee got sleep apnea also, so I know what you are going though. I was clocked at 36 times an hour if I sleep on my side and 120 on my back. It is SOOOO nice to wake up with out a headache.

* You just have to keep wearing it every night. I am claustrophobic so it took me about six months. The mask I use is the Respironics Comfortlite 2 with the nasal pillows. See the third link.

melissa

call a local newspaper, maybe they will do a story on you and get some answers

You will want to go through whichever senator for your state you choose. You need to stick with the ones for your state, however. Usually, each senator has a staff member who is responsible for handling military and veteran's issues. I would recommend calling the office (go the the senator's website and get the phone number) instead of writing. Let them know what is happening and see if they can help...they usually can. Just make sure you try to keep a good record of dates you called, who you spoke with and what was said. That will help them out in their investigation.

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