im in my final stretch going after the VA after a long long story

my last fight is about hearing and I know mostly its a lost cause.  im somewhat pleased with my current rating for the itemized failures of my body and brain.

I have substantial evidenced in my favor im just going through the hoops with the 995 forms before going full appeal hearing

my question to you guys.  anyone received a rating FOR hearing loss and also received a favorable claim for VA funded hearing aids/care?

I guess im wondering is, even if I get a rating will I be able to get hearing devices from the VA or is it just the % rating and thats it?

If you have a VA rating of 50% (I think, I can't remember the exact amount currently), the VAMC will provide you with hearing aids if you need them.

Getting a higher than 0% rating for hearing loss from the VA might be impossible unless you are borderline deaf. No, I'm not joking. The max rating for tinnitus is 10% and you will not get a higher rating for that, ever.

I have see guys with a VA rating for hearing loss, but they were pretty much deaf, and that's no a joke.

Op,go to a site called hearing tracker and post your question. Lots of vets. on there. I'm a member there. Also lots of hearing aid information on there.

This is straight from the VA website:

https://www.va.gov/opa/publications/benefits_book/benefits_chap01.asp

VA medical services include diagnostic audiology and diagnostic and preventive eye care services. VA will provide hearing aids and eyeglasses to the following Veterans:

- Those with any compensable service-connected disability.
- Those who are former Prisoners of War (POWs).
- Those who were awarded a Purple Heart.
- Those in receipt of benefits under Title 38 United States Code (U.S.C.) 1151.
- Those in receipt of an increased pension based on being rated permanently housebound or in need of regular aid and attendance.
- Those with vision or hearing impairment resulting from diseases or the existence of another medical condition for which the Veteran is receiving care or services from VHA, or which resulted from treatment of that medical condition, e.g., stroke, polytrauma, traumatic brain injury, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, vascular disease, geriatric chronic illnesses, toxicity from drugs, ocular photosensitivity from drugs, cataract surgery, and/or other surgeries performed on the eye, ear, or brain resulting in vision or hearing impairment.
- Those with significant functional or cognitive impairment evidenced by deficiencies in the ability to perform activities of daily living. but not including normally occurring visual or hearing impairments. Note: Veterans with normally occurring visual and/or hearing impairments that interfere with their medical care are eligible for eyeglasses and hearing aids.
- Those who have vision or hearing impairment or combined visual and hearing impairments severe enough that it interferes with their ability to participate actively in their own medical treatment. Note: The term "severe" is to be interpreted as a vision and/or hearing loss that interferes with or restricts access to, involvement in, or active participation in health care services (e.g., communication or reading medication labels). The term is not to be interpreted to mean that a severe hearing or vision loss must exist to be eligible for hearing aids or eyeglasses.
- Veterans who have a service-connected hearing disabilitiy that contributes to a loss of communication ability. However, hearing aids are to be provided only as needed for the service-connected hearing disability. Nonservice-connected (NSC) Veterans are eligible for hearing aids or eyeglasses on the basis of medical need. All such Veterans (including Medal of Honor recipients who do not have entitling conditions or circumstances and catastrophically disabled Veterans) must receive a hearing evaluation by a state-licensed audiologist prior to determining eligibility for hearing aids or an appropriate evaluation by an optometrist or ophthalmologist prior to determining eligibility for eyeglasses to establish medical justification for provision of these devices. These Veterans must meet the following criteria for eligibility based on medical need:
- Be enrolled at VA medical facility where they receive their health care; and
- Have hearing or vision loss that interferes with or restricts communication to the extent that it affects their active participation in the provision of health care services as determined by an audiologist or an eye care practitioner or provider.

Tinnitus is 10%.

I went thru this.   I had 38 year old xerox copies of my medical records showing a 35% loss in my right ear, a little less in the left.

I could have had the damn disability in 1980, but being young and headstrong I never pursued it.   About age 40 I started buying hearing aids, and did so every few years as they died, or I killed them.    Once I hit 55 and was looking at another 4K for new aids,
I decided F it, I’ll take my records showing my loss and apply for the VA healthcare.  Denied.  They acted like I printed those medical records yesterday.   Fine, you guys MUST HAVE THE ORIGINALS SOMEWHERE.  Lol, right.  They had no access to my old records.

Somebody tipped me off to the DAV guys at my local hospital,
I filled out some more applications, sent them off and in a few weeks I was scheduled for a hearing test, which showed a loss not much more than 1980, but the tinnitus was horrible.  Still is BTW, you just make peace with it.

Anyway, my second application was approved and I am 10% disabled, and I get my hearing aids thru VA.   That is my only exposure to their healthcare system thus far, other than annual physical exams.   The Audiology part has been exceptional, not sure how the rest will be if I ever need it.

For the record, my service was all peacetime infantry.  We were just getting into the “idea” of hearing protection in the early 70s.
More than once I used cigarette butts for my own ear plugs.  They don’t do much.

Find the DAV rep local to you.  Good luck.

You're right, my mistake.

When I was getting medically retired from the Army in 2008, I also got hearing tested and the Army and the VA decided I that I needed hearing aids, so I got a set.

The VA policy is that you get replacement hearing aids every five years.  I am on my third set, each time it required a trip to the VA audiology and then you get a new set with the new adjustments.  As far as batteries and wax traps go, there is a VA place in Denver that sends you batteries and wax traps when you email or call them.  You keep the old hearing aids when you get the new ones, so I have back ups.  I have no complaints about about the VA hearing aid system.  You get what are top of the line hearing aids and a support system that works really well.  I did find out from talking to the audiology folks at the VA that they well replace a lost hearing aid once or twice, but after that they won't.  They said it was due to folks saying they lost their hearing aids when they would just sell them.

My son also went through the process last year and got his hearing aids (9 years as a 13B will do that to you), he got the same kind and his had a device which allowed him to blue tooth them to his phone and computer so he doesn't have to use headphones any more.

Thanks guys thats a lot of help

Im over 50% but havnt finished my hearing claim yet and its been a pain in the ass... I havnt gotten to an official appeal yet but before I have to go down that road Ill get with the DAV and see what they have to say.

I have 10% for tinnitus already and im not looking for an increase.  but it looks like regardless if I dont get a hearing loss service connecting I might still be able to get hear aid care.  which bottom line is what is more important to me since they are all of 5K plus after looking at the after care needed

Thanks

FYI if you don't get that worked out, hearing aids at Costco are about 1300 bucks for the set that your civilian audiologist wants to charge you 8k for.  Well worth the 60 dollar membership fee, and they're the exact same hearing aids.

I didn't bother getting a rating for my hearing since I all ready had several different things that I was rated on and am at 100% UI anyway. I was always in combat engineer units and around heavy/mechanized equipment. I'm on my second set of hearing aids from the VA.

I've had very good luck having DAV represent me for all my disability claims and getting ratings increased.

@chumpmiester

did you use the DAV rep for appeals process or from the beginning with your initial Intent to Files

so far ive been on my own but after this round and if I need to further the effort im wondering if a DAV would help for appeals since they weren't involved with the initial claim

Actually they helped me with both. The only time I actually had to appeal was the last time I went for a rate increase. DAV was very helpful. I don't know if it was coincidence or not, but I received my 100% UI rating about 30 days after getting approved for Social Security Disability.

This has been my experience.

10% for tinnitus was practically a gimme. Clearly defined hearing loss - 0%. IIRC, the scale they use to rate hearing loss is really out of whack.

I just got a free aid for hearing loss. I was border line for need but the Doc recommended I get one.
I have been out of the service sinse 1971 so kind of hard to prove the good old constant ringing is service connected. Even though I worked on a flight line and shot on the rifle team.

The aid I got is top shelf Bluetooth so you can make your own adjustments and use it as a earbud that your cellphone can go through. Plus lost more stuff.


edt: spelling

Nope! They'll tell you that they, the VA, are not fully computerized yet and that they can not find your medical records. DAV are outstanding individuals. I recommend them to so many (probably a hundred vets by now) because for many, there is no clear roadmap for navigating the VA.

Also be prepared for caseworkers with ZERO medical background making determinations about your health which deny you benefits. Of the hundreds of vets that I've asked, only 2 said that they were happy with their overall VA experiences. Just TWO!!!

I know several who now refuse to even enter a VA facility.

Best of luck to all!

Computers have been around for well over 30 years... and the VA "doesn't have all the records digitized"?????!!!!! Hell, the IRS sure knows everything about you and everyone else. Maybe the VA are just deliberately dragging their feet, stalling and waiting for you to pass.

Oh, and they will make shut up on the fly!

VA: "you had a preexisting condition."
Ok... then where's the med waiver in my enlistment documents?!!!

EBR666, sincerely glad to hear it (no pun intended)!

There are some docs (not all) and med staff at the VA who are completely legit and "go rogue" in order to honestly give maximum care. The biggest roadblock appears to be the clerical/bureaucracy at the front end.

I can't complain about the medical care that I get. Majority of the doctors that I see are very caring and do a good job. I have had a couple of primary care doctors that did not care and were pill pushers. A lot depends on which medical facility/hospital you go to.  The Harry S Truman VA Hospital in Columbia, Mo and associated outpatient clinics have been very good to me. I have had just the opposite when I had to go to the John Cochran VA Hospital in St Louis, Mo and associated outpatient clinics.

The clerical/bureaucracy staff is definitely different to deal with.

Here is an example of the VA records system not working. While a patient of the St Louis VA, they sent me to the Gulf War Injury Specialty Clinic at the Washington DC VA. My current doctor at the outpatient clinic associated with the Harry S Truman VA evidently can't access records from St Louis or DC from his computer. He asked me who diagnosed me with arthritis and fibromyalgia because he could not find it in my medical records. I told him it was both the ST Louis and DC VA that made the diagnosis for both. That was a couple of years ago so I don't know if they fixed it or not. The funny thing is I can log onto MyHealtheVet website and access my records from every VA facility/region that I have been to.