Airway Clearance Device for Veterans

Airway Clearance Device for Veterans With COPD
After sacrificing for their country, veterans deserve the best care. If you’re a veteran, you may face chronic respiratory conditions, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD due to environmental exposures, underlying health issues, or aging-related lung function decline. Airway clearance therapy may improve your quality of life and overall respiratory function.

In this article, we’ll look at how the VA addresses COPD and how SmartVest can help.

COPD VA Rating

The VA rates COPD under 38 CFR § 4.97, Diagnostic Code 6604, based on the results of pulmonary function tests (PFT). ³ The percentages range from 10% to 100%, depending on the severity of your condition. The forced expiratory volume (FEV) is determined by how much air you exhale in one second.

VA COPD Rating for Disability

Your VA disability rating for respiratory issues is directly tied to your disability compensation rating.

VA COPD Guidelines

The VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of COPD focuses on:

• Early diagnosis
• Appropriate disease staging
• Personalized treatment plans with both pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic approaches. ⁴

Key recommendations emphasize:

• Stop smoking
• Try pulmonary rehabilitation
• Bronchodilators and inhaled corticosteroids (when appropriate)

For those with advanced COPD, the guidelines also highlight the importance of education, up-to-date vaccinations, and oxygen therapy, if necessary.

Learn more about the VA COPD guidelines.

Is COPD a Presumptive VA Disability?

COPD is not currently listed as a presumptive VA disability. However, you may still qualify for VA disability benefits for COPD if you demonstrate that the condition is service-connected. Here are a few ways to do so:

1. Direct Service Connection. Prove that your COPD was caused by an event, injury, or exposure while on active duty or in the reserves.
2. Secondary Service Connection. Show that your COPD is caused or exacerbated by another service-connected condition. This could include other lung or heart diseases.
3. Exposure-Related Connection. Link your COPD to toxic exposure during service, such as:
   • Agent Orange (Vietnam veterans) ⁵
   • Burn pits (Gulf War and post-9/11 veterans) ⁶
   • Asbestos exposure (Navy veterans) ⁷
   • Gulf War Syndrome ⁸
   • Radiation exposure ⁹
4. Presumptive Connection for Certain Exposures. While COPD is not presumptive, if exposed to particulate matter, burn pits, or other toxic exposures, you may qualify under the PACT Act for easier approval. ¹⁰

Why Airway Clearance Matters for Veterans

Exposure to dust, chemicals, and hazards, including Agent Orange, over the course of your service can lead to long-term respiratory complications. ¹ When those complications lead to mucus buildup, you may end up dealing with frequent infections, reduced lung function, and overall discomfort.

Airway clearance devices, like SmartVest, help loosen and clear mucus from the lungs so you can breathe easier. This high-frequency chest wall oscillation (HFCWO) technology helps to prevent infections, reduce hospitalizations

How SmartVest Takes Care of Veterans

Improve Lung Function. SmartVest helps mobilize mucus, reducing blockages, which may improve breathing efficiency for lung conditions such as COPD.