Question:
Hi Jim: Enjoy your blog very much; great place to learn. I am service connected 3 years ago for hearing at 10%. I think my hearing has gotten worse; my wife insists it has. My question is if I have a new hearing test done by an audiologist and they complete a dbq, will the VA likely make me do another one for the C&P, or accept the dbq? Or use both?
Jim's Reply:
VA does an exceptionally poor job of evaluating and rating hearing problems. For a long time I've urged vets to get a hearing evaluation by a civilian audiologist and pay for it out of pocket. You'll very likely get another C & P exam and test by VA but as a rule, the civilian report will best the VA report. Don't forget that hearing loss can cause secondary conditions like depression...profound hearing loss should be compensated but unless you push, VA isn't likely to do that.