Military service members can experience loud noises that can permanently damage their hearing, whether from explosions, gunfire, or working around aircraft or heavy machinery. When you have hearing loss or tinnitus caused by exposures during your military service, you may qualify for VA disability benefits. But what can you expect when you file a claim for disability compensation for hearing loss or tinnitus caused by your military service?
How the VA Rates Hearing Loss and Tinnitus
The VA’s Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD) provides diagnostic criteria for rating hearing impairment. Under the VASRD, a state-licensed audiologist must conduct a hearing impairment exam that includes both a controlled speech discrimination test and a puretone audiometry test, with the patient performing the test without hearing aids. The VASRD rates hearing loss by assigning scores for impairment in each ear and then combining the score of the poorer ear with the score of the better ear in a chart to find the appropriate disability rating. Ratings for hearing impairment range in increments of ten from zero (no impairment) to 100 (total impairment).
Conversely, the VASRD assigns a flat ten percent disability rating for diagnosed recurrent tinnitus, regardless of whether a veteran’s tinnitus occurs in one ear or both ears.
Establishing a Service Connection
A veteran can obtain disability compensation for hearing loss or tinnitus only by establishing that their condition arose due to their military service. Proving a service connection for hearing loss or tinnitus requires evidence that a veteran experienced an in-service traumatic event, such as an explosion or traumatic brain injury, or had exposure to loud, damaging noises like running engines or machinery or gunfire. Veterans can present service records and buddy statements to document in-service events. They also need medical records and nexus letters from treating providers or experts to link their hearing loss to their military service.
The Compensation and Pension Exam
In most cases, the VA will have a veteran applying for disability compensation for hearing loss attend a compensation and pension (C&P) exam where an audiologist will perform a hearing impairment exam to determine the veteran’s current hearing loss. Veterans attending a C&P exam should bring their hearing aids (if any), although they cannot use aids during the exam. Veterans should also prepare to discuss in-service events or exposures that may have contributed to their hearing loss.
Common Reasons for Denials of Hearing Loss and Tinnitus Claims
Some of the most frequent reasons for denials of veterans’ disability benefits claims for hearing loss and tinnitus include:
- Lack of service connection: The VA may conclude that a veteran’s hearing loss has no nexus to their military service, especially if they had documented normal hearing upon their separation from the military. Nexus letters from medical providers can strengthen the link between in-service noise exposure and hearing loss.
- Lack of evidence of in-service events: A veteran may have their application denied because their service records show no exposure to loud noises (e.g., the veteran never served in combat roles, never saw engagement with the enemy, or never worked around engines or machinery).
- Lack of evidence of hearing impairment: The VASRD assigns zero disability ratings in cases where a veteran has no or minimal hearing impairment in at least one ear.
Contact Our VA Disability Benefits Law Firm Today
Exposure to loud noises in military duty can cause long-term hearing damage, which may potentially entitle you to disability compensation from the VA. Contact Coskrey Law today for a free, no-obligation consultation with a VA disability benefits attorney to learn more about the process of applying for compensation for service-connected hearing loss or tinnitus and what to expect when you file a claim for disability benefits.