Sleep Apnea Penalties?!

[cowboy1970]

Ok so this isn't about social penalties and all that stuff. I am wondering if anyone has heard some of the rumors flying around in my area.

I had one lady tell me that my son would not be able to join any military branch because he has been diagnosed with sleep apnea and is being treated with CPAP therapy.

I also had a different person tell me that my son and I would never be able to have life insurance because basically they consider sleep apnea to be a sever/fatal condition.

Is any of this true? Have any of you run into this problem or worked around some of these issues? Are there any other penalties I have not heard about?

[Peter_C]

Try becoming a truck driver now with OSA...

[justMongo]

Military life and CPAP are incompatible.
You sleep where you drop in the military.
So, I understand that -- and would say it's true.

[zonk]

As long as using CPAP and have the report to back it up, I cannot imagine it to be other than false otherwise its a discrimination
Discrimination is against the law

[PaulaO2]

We have had several active military guys come here who are using CPAP. So I would say that was false. There are plenty of things one can do in the military branches that do not involve being in a trench overnight.

As for life insurance, I did a quick Google search and got conflicting results just going through a handful of the links. But it seems to come down to your sleep apnea being adequately treated. If you are getting treated and have shown a history of being compliant, then there should be no change in the insurance premium. Untreated sleep apnea, however, will be ghastly expensive. How they know you are being treated was another confusing part. One seemed to imply they would want new sleep study and want to see records of compliance. Another said they would only want to see previous studies and compliance.

What surprised me is that several of the links mentioned that the life insurance company would want to know if the treatment was actually working. What a concept!

[bwexler]

What surprised me is that several of the links mentioned that the life insurance company would want to know if the treatment was actually working. What a concept!

Why would that be important?
Don't some insurance companies provide both health and life insurance. You mean complience (4 hours a day 70% of days) is enough to pay for a brick but not to issue a life policy.

[cowboy1970]

ok, i got a chance to call a local recruiting office for the army. She informed me that sleep apnea is a reason they will NOT accept you into the military. She said you would have to be off therapy for at least one year and pass a sleep study/doctor's note sorta thing...in order to pass the basic physical for acceptance into boot camp.

My son is several years away, from applying, so we will address this issue at that time in case requirements change or his therapy has ended.

This is incredibly discouraging. The doctor had my son get a sleep study, then removed tonsils and adenoids, then he didn't want to do anything and I insisted on a second test because I could see my son was still suffering. The doctor said he wanted to wait a few years to see the full effects of the operation, but I wanted my son to be getting therapy because it helped me so much. The doctor finally did a second test and sure enough he qualified for therapy, so we finally are getting him treatment. I didn't know there would be this penalty tho, and kinda wonder if I have altered the course of my son's life.

To explain my strong feelings on need for therapy...my older brothers and my older sister are all on CPAP therapy. I have felt a definite improvement. I have had health issues such as heart attack, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and fatigue and have been told that apnea contributes to all of that. I was hoping that getting my son treated decades before I began treatment, might help him avoid some of the issues I have faced...stress on his heart and all.

I also told him not to get shot in the leg or injure his back in a snowmobile accident...but other than that he's turning out just like me.

[retired_guy]

If he cannot go into the army then he'll find something else to do with his life. BECAUSE you cared enough to get him the treatment needed, he will most likely have a life. That's a very good thing. Did you alter the course of his life? Probably. By treating his condition, which by the way is a condition, not a disease, then you have saved him from all those things that you yourself have experienced and possibly more. Heart attack? Diabetes? Sleeping through his classes or perhaps behind the wheel?

Oh, and if he's turning out just like you, that's a good thing. He'll be a man that cares enough to get the right treatment for his children even if it carries with it a few disappointments.

Good job Cowboy.

[Galactus]

Sometimes we must alter the course of our lives, or that of our loved ones to insure their ultimate health and well being. Sounds like you did a good thing, so don't regret it, be happy that you did the right thing.

BTW, here is the link to the military, and all the things that "could" make you ineligible it is quite the list too. It says a waiver is possible, and you have to remember that different branches would have different reasons for having waivers. Anyway who knows what the future will bring for him, I wish you and he all the best.

http://www.military.com/join-armed-force...tions.html

[Skypilot]

As long as using CPAP and have the report to back it up, I cannot imagine it to be other than false otherwise its a discrimination
Discrimination is against the law

I would suggest it would not be discrimination more like being unfit to perform the duties that may be required. To join the services you have to meet certain requirements - it is not discrimination.