The VA rates sleep apnea under Diagnostic Code 6847, and the surprise for most veterans is what the tiers actually turn on: treatment, not how loud the snoring is. If a doctor has you on a CPAP machine, you're looking at the 50% tier, and the record in your file is what decides it.

Watch the full breakdown, then keep reading for the tiers and the evidence that sets them.

How the VA rates sleep apnea

Sleep apnea lives at 38 C.F.R. § 4.97, Diagnostic Code 6847. There are four rating tiers, and they don't measure the snore or even the raw sleep-study numbers. They measure what your condition needs in the way of treatment and what damage it's doing. Read them from the bottom up and the logic is clear: the more your body depends on intervention to breathe, the higher the tier.

0%
Documented, no symptoms
Asymptomatic, but with a documented sleep disorder. Service-connected and on record, it pays nothing on its own.
30%
Daytime sleepiness
Persistent daytime hypersomnolence — excessive daytime drowsiness on the record, without a prescribed breathing device.
50%
CPAP / breathing device
Requires use of a breathing assistance device such as a CPAP machine. This is the tier most veterans land on.
100%
Respiratory failure
Chronic respiratory failure with carbon dioxide retention or cor pulmonale (right-sided heart failure caused by the apnea), or a required tracheostomy.
DC 6847 rating tiers — 38 C.F.R. § 4.97

The CPAP rule, in one line

Here's the part worth writing down. The 50% tier is defined by a single requirement: your sleep apnea requires use of a breathing assistance device such as a CPAP machine. A prescribed CPAP, documented in your file, is direct evidence that breathing assistance is required. That's why so many sleep apnea claims settle at 50% — the prescription itself does the work.

In your fileCPAPprescribed & documented
▶
Rating tier50%breathing assistance required
A documented CPAP prescription is the evidence for the 50% tier

Myths that cost veterans the right tier

Myth: louder snoring means a higher rating.

The tiers don't grade the noise. DC 6847 turns on treatment and damage — a breathing device at 50%, respiratory failure at 100%. How loud you snore has nothing to do with which tier you land on.

Myth: I need heart failure before it's a real rating.

That's the 100% picture — chronic respiratory failure or cor pulmonale. But the 50% CPAP tier sits well below it, and it's the one most veterans qualify for. You don't have to be that sick to be paid at 50%.

Myth: a diagnosis alone gets me a rating.

A documented sleep disorder with no symptoms is a 0% tier. It's service-connected, but it pays nothing until the record shows daytime sleepiness (30%) or a required breathing device (50%).

Myth: the CPAP I was prescribed speaks for itself.

Only if the rater can see it. The prescription and its ongoing use have to appear in the C&P exam and the claims file the VA reviews. A device sitting in your bedroom that never made it into the record can't set your tier.

Why the prescription is the evidence

Sleep apnea claims are decided on the treatment record, so the practical job is making sure that record is complete. The prescription needs to be in the file, and its ongoing use should be there too. If your C&P exam or claims file is thin on the CPAP, that's the gap to close before the rating is assigned.

Get it in the record
38 C.F.R. § 4.97, DC 6847
Make the CPAP visible to the rater
  • Prescription documented in the claims file
  • Ongoing use noted in your records
  • The CPAP addressed at the C&P exam
Confirm the criteria
VASRD modernization review
Check the current schedule before you file
  • The VA has floated changing these criteria for years
  • The schedule in force is the law that governs
  • Any change goes through public rulemaking first
Two things to nail down before a claim or appeal

If your treatment has changed

The rating reflects the record at the time it was assigned. If your treatment has changed since the last rating — say a device was prescribed after your original claim — an increase may be warranted. The move is the same one that set the tier in the first place: get the current treatment into the file, then ask the VA to look again.

Verify before you file These criteria are under active VASRD review, and the VA has talked about modernizing them for years. The schedule above is the law in force, but confirm the current criteria at the live eCFR before you file or appeal — the criteria in effect on your decision date are the ones that govern.

Your next moves

  1. Find your rating on the ladder: 0% documented, 30% daytime sleepiness, 50% CPAP, 100% respiratory failure.
  2. If you use a breathing device, confirm the prescription and its ongoing use are both in your claims file.
  3. Make sure the CPAP is addressed at your C&P exam, not just sitting in your medical records.
  4. If treatment changed since your last rating, gather the new records and file for an increase.
  5. Check the current DC 6847 criteria at the eCFR before filing or appealing, since they're under review.

Apnea is a condition other people witness before you do. If someone you served with heard you stop breathing in the barracks, or your spouse has watched it for years, that testimony is competent evidence and it can carry the in-service onset your records never captured. Our free buddy statement builder walks a witness through it, and the personal statement builder covers your own account of the daytime exhaustion.

Related guides Secondary conditions · The C&P exam · The evidence that wins

Get the whole picture — free

This is one chapter of the Veteran Field Manual. Volume 1 is being revised right now and will be back shortly. Volume 0 gets a veteran oriented in the meantime.

↓ Download Volume 0 (PDF)
Veteran Field Manual

Plain-English field guides to the VA benefits system, drawn from primary federal sources and paired with the free Veteran Field Manual video series and PDF library.

Sources

Rules and figures change; confirm current details at the primary sources before acting. DC 6847 criteria are subject to VASRD modernization updates — the live eCFR is the controlling source.

  • 38 C.F.R. § 4.97 — Schedule of ratings: Respiratory system (DC 6847, Sleep Apnea Syndromes)
  • eCFR (live, authoritative) — 38 CFR Part 4, the current rating schedule

Veteran Field Manual is an independent educational resource. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or representing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or any government agency. Informational only — not legal, medical, or VA-accredited claims advice.