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VA Hearing Aid Process

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In reply to @joanhawsey

If that’s your husband’s as posted, there’s no way he could be denied.
Someone dropped the ball, and good on you for suggesting an advocate.
He may also want to consult with the Chief of Audiology at the Health center.

In reply to @joanhawsey

@joanhawsey said:

received a letter of denial of any service related hearing loss and therefore no HAs

If this was some time back,he should try again. The new standard is if the person is eligible for medical services and needs a hearing aid (no matter the reason or origin of the problem) it will be provided by the VA. (with some minor restrictions)

"VA provides hearing aids to the following veterans:

Those with any service-connected disability

  • Former Prisoners of War
  • Purple Heart recipients
  • Those rated permanently housebound or in need of regular aid and attendance.
  • Those with hearing impairment resulting from diseases or a medical condition for which they are getting VA care or disability
  • Those who have hearing impairment severe enough that it interferes with their ability to participate actively in their own medical treatment or daily living.

If any of these apply to him, he needs to contact the VA for an appointment for hearing assessment.
Dan

In reply to @joanhawsey

I will add a wee bit to the discussion, I believe it was 2018 after the discovery that the hearing protector ear plugs provided by DOD for all services were absolutely worthless, that the announced they would provide hearing aids to any former service person, regardless of whether they signed up for VA medical services or not.
I actually had a hearing exam back in 1990 which showed my hearing loss. When the VA made there announcement I was already using the CBO in Spotsylvania, I called to see if they had an audiology dept, they said yes, I scheduled…the rest is history. (I only served 9 years, it was working in Navy Commceners, and an ammodump bakeoff that took my hearing out.

I was in the Navy 8 years 1968-1977, I was an electronic technician that first served at a Navy Air training base, I spent a lot of time training would be pilots haw to man the portable Control Tower that set in the middle between the 2 runways. The noise was unbearable at first but I soon didn’t even notice it. After that I returned to school for my B school studies and was recruited for White House Communications Agency and traveled worldwide in the cargo bay of Air Force C141s. We weren’t even offered hearing protection on the planes. I am now an alumni member of the Presidential Service Badge Association and over 90% of the alumni are hearing disabled. My hearing loss is severe and of a type that seems to be unique to the ones of us that spent so much time on the cargo jets. As of this past November I am now 50% disabled.

I received quite a surprise from the in the mail today. Two boxes of 80 batteries for my hearing aids. The audiologist must have ordered them for my Marvels. Hopefully, once I get the Lumity aids I won’t have much need for batteries.

I realize the VA supplies batteries, I was shocked to receive them unsolicited.

@jbobp said:

I realize the VA supplies batteries, I was shocked to receive them unsolicited

There is an order form that they shipped with the batteries. When you run low, just follow the directions on the card and they will send another 6 month supply.
Dan

@danhuddleston said:

There is an order form that they shipped with the batteries. When you run low, just follow the directions on the card and they will send another 6 month supply.
Dan

I did receive the order form, however once I receive the Lumitys I hope there isn’t a need for me to go back to the M90s that use the batteries.

May I give you advice from my experience. Keep your M90s at a backup you never know if and when you may need them.
I am never without backup set of aids. And when I travel I care my backup aids along with everything I need for both sets of sets of my aids. And yes it has come in handy. My Audiologist keeps both of my sets of aids updated and adjusted.
The same goes for my glasses I never travel without my backups.

Edited

I’ll keep the M90s as a backup. I just hope I don’t have to use them often or much.

I’m currently in my V70s which are backup to my M90s because the m90s are at Phonak.

I keep an extra pair of glasses in the car and I travel with an extra pair of contacts and glasses.

I’ve never needed to use the backup pair of aids on a trip, but I have the glasses.

When I went to pickup my P90’s, I brought my M90’s along.
They were sent to Denver, refurbished, and showed up on my doorstep about two weeks later. They are my reserve/backups.

This is fun. I keep a stash of , domes (several types), and I have a backup of stash of receivers. I had receivers go bad several times with my Marvels, and went without one or the other for up to two weeks. Fortunately, with Phonak, there is no difference between models. The size and power is on the dome end of the receiver. Most cleaning kits have a small took with a stiff wire at the end. On a Phonak up where the receiver plugs in, on either side is a little hole, use the wire to push in (just a little bit), you will see a small white piece of plastic sticking out of the other side. Snap the old receiver wire out, snap new wire in, push little plastic thingy back in. Bingo. You can get receivers on Amazon for a bunch. I got 2 lefts, and 2 rights for about 70 bucks total on Ebay.
Mine are “4.0 2L and 2R”. (Paradise/Lumity Life do not have the little locking pins, they just snap in/out.)

I thought I’d add another datapoint to this thread. I’m a first time hearing aid use with moderate (?) hearing loss and higher frequencies. Mostly, when there is any amount of noise, I can see my wife’s lips moving but can’t tell what she’s saying. Also I have 24x7 tinnitus that presents as a very high frequency squeal and multi-high freq buzz. That’s annoying for sure.

I visited the 3 years ago about these issues and they did hearing tests in a quiet room and determined I was fine, for now. Testing in January showed somewhat worse high freq loss, and the new audiologist recommended to help with the tinnitus and wife speech issues. Ordered me HA’s and told me to come back in a month.

A come in this morning to find that they ordered me Phonak Lumity 90 Lifes which I’ve seen is a very good aid. They did ONE automated beeping test to eliminate feedback from within the Phonak software and that’s it. Sent me home. Took all of 30 minutes start to finish.

I will say, I do hear cymbals and stuff in music again which is nice. I can hear most stuff fine since my lower hearing is ‘quite good’ according to them. But…

I’m very disappointed in the fitting visit. No follow up visit for adjustments even though I asked about one. Seem like they think the defaults are ‘good enough’. You’d think they’d do at least some post fitting tests.

I’ll keep a list of issues and call them back to see what they say. At least the HA and supplies are ‘free’. Free for the low, low, price of 20 years of service that is.

I hope your VA does a better job on fittings and adjustments. Too bad I can’t just tweak the annoying stuff at home. I’m at IT person, screaming servers have a lot to do with my hearing loss I’m sure. I’m already hitting roadblocks in the app that are provider settings only. Sigh.

You can call back to ask for as many adjustments as needed, as someone that has been getting aids from the for 18+years you need to be proactive about your needs. If you need extras ask, if you aren’t satisfied with the aids in the first 6 months from when they are ordered say so. I suggest you keep a journal of what is and isn’t working. Explain it as good as you can. And also understand it can take from a few days to a few months to get used to the aids, so be patient, but also be proactive about your needs and desires.

In reply to @Kendal0

@Kendal0 said:

Too bad I can’t just tweak the annoying stuff at home. I’m at IT person

Oh, but you certainly can!
You’ll need Phonak Target software and a Noahlink Wireless USB device to connect your to your PC.
At the Top Left side of the main forum page go to All Categories, click on the drop down & go to the "Hearing Aid Self-Fitting section.
It’s all there.
Users @pvc and @tenkan are always willing to help!

I have been getting my aids from the for 18 years, and I will advise one thing he better check with the VA before do adjustments to a set of aids from the VA. I don’t know the true regulations but I have heard of veterans be refusing repairs and adjustments when it was found out their aids were messed with out side of the VA clinics.

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