Question
I’m a Navy veteran that worked on the flight deck. When I had my separation physical at 23 years old, I was told I had some hearing loss. It wasn’t a huge problem for me so I ignored it. Fast forward a few years and I finally had it checked out at the VA at the request of my wife. (age 47). To make a long story short I was approved for hearing aids and received a 10% disability rating for tinnitus.. I was just thrilled to have my hearing aids paid for. Now, 5 years later I’ve found my hearing is significantly worse and I have issues communicating even with hearing aids in. The slightest background noise or not being able to see someone’s lips make it very difficult. So I have submitted a new filing with the help of a veterans organization and I am currently awaiting a response. I had an exam through their audiologist and my pure tone averages in the four frequencies used by the VBA are 73 &75. (Both ears have nearly identical numbers in every respect) But the confusing part is my speech discrimination. My speech reception thresholds are 70 dB, my word discrimination scores were at 100%, but my articulation index is 3%. The audiologist stated that my discrimination scores were so low that they were practically unheard of in much older men. My question is which score do I use to plug into the disability rating table. 3% speech discrimination means 100% disabled and 100% discrimination means 0% disabled. Both are hard to believe, especially when you consider that if my first language was such that I was only required to use the pure tone results then that by itself would be good for a 30% rating. If my speech discrimination was so bad then it should only drag me into a higher rating. I realize the 100% speech discrimination was at 95db so in a perfect environment I can converse fairly well which seems unfair to use as a guideline but my gut feeling is that’s the number I’m supposed to use. I’m thinking that I will be denied and will have to pursue an extra scheduler rating. Thoughts?
Jim's Reply
"I’m thinking that I will be denied and will have to pursue an extra scheduler rating. Thoughts?" You provided the answer I was about to give you. Most hearing and tinnitus claims are denied and require appeal. You should file for the highest rating you see as reasonable and wait for the denial. While you wait, find a civilian audiologist who understands the requirements of the VA disability system and pay for the exam out of your own pocket. The civilian audiologist exam will be invaluable in the appeal. As you might expect, I'd also recommend that when the denial does come that you go ahead and retain an accredited veterans law attorney to manage the appeal. This will likely be a long and drawn out process but in the end, you should prevail. As you go along don't forget that significant hearing loss can lead to secondary service connected conditions like anxiety, depression and other mental health conditions. If you feel that your hearing loss has caused you serious discomfort, consider having a psych IMO done and filing a claim.