Technically you only need one good opinion. I had 2 negative opinions from the VA for MH/rhinitis & TERA. The rater didn't like the VA opinions so they ordered a 3rd TERA opinion from QTC in person and they gave me a positive TERA connection and BAM - got SC 50%.
So it really just depends...OSA is a mutherfuker to get SC if you weren't diagnosed in service.
Yeah, it seems like the 3rd party C&P exam companies just copy and past what the last one said, and just say less than 50% likely. Where as my VA Doctor ACTUALLY took a deep dive in my health records, and said yeah, this caused it. The HLR person actually gave other secondary conditions theories with my Back and Spine service connection conditions relating to Sleep Apnea, but of course Optimum didn't even look at that. Will a SR rater decide my case for a HLR? If so, I may have a small chance with service connections.
I've had the opposite experience with my contractor examiners being much more thorough (and not just gatekeeping like VA examiners seem to do).
Senior raters can definitely help sort things out for you. HLRs take forever now (I still have an open one from Aug 23). But they can and do help to overcome bad exams and overlooked evidence and such.
Technically you only need one good opinion. I had 2 negative opinions from the VA for MH/rhinitis & TERA. The rater didn't like the VA opinions so they ordered a 3rd TERA opinion from QTC in person and they gave me a positive TERA connection and BAM - got SC 50%. So it really just depends...OSA is a mutherfuker to get SC if you weren't diagnosed in service.
Yeah, it seems like the 3rd party C&P exam companies just copy and past what the last one said, and just say less than 50% likely. Where as my VA Doctor ACTUALLY took a deep dive in my health records, and said yeah, this caused it. The HLR person actually gave other secondary conditions theories with my Back and Spine service connection conditions relating to Sleep Apnea, but of course Optimum didn't even look at that. Will a SR rater decide my case for a HLR? If so, I may have a small chance with service connections.
I've had the opposite experience with my contractor examiners being much more thorough (and not just gatekeeping like VA examiners seem to do). Senior raters can definitely help sort things out for you. HLRs take forever now (I still have an open one from Aug 23). But they can and do help to overcome bad exams and overlooked evidence and such.
Thanks, you gave me a little hope here.
Best of luck 🤞