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VA hearing aid eligibility

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It is hard to say. All I can say is you need to get in to the system then once you see your doctor then ask for a referral to get a hearing test. I get my aids from the VA because my hearing loss is military service hearing loss. It is hard to prove even when it was in my medical records that I had hearing loss while in the service.

In reply to @gorbjone1

They will probably say you have no benefits and you do not qualify. They tell that to everyone. Just tell them to process the claim anyway. They hope you will give up and then they do not have to pay out.

In reply to @cvkemp

$281.27/month pays for all of that! That’ll pay my car insurance (2 cars), but that’s all. By the way–you receive that disability over-and-above what you’re getting from Social Security or any source. As a retired military service member, they subtract my 10% disability, $142.29, from my retired military pay and then give it back to me tax free from the –such a deal!!. They do that until a military retiree gets a 50% disability. Then, they received full retired pay along with the 50% disability.

I was totally surprised to get the disability money I have always been happy to just get my hearing aids. But It has also saved me money on my loan when I finally decided to get a VA loan we we decided to move this last time. I didn’t have to put any money down myself.

Had an interesting development in my trying to get an appointment at the VAMC. I’ve had 4 appointments rescheduled and cancelled. My latest appointment for 24 July was cancelled on 9 July by a letter. So, I initiated a Community Care appointment request. My first request was denied so I initiated another request last Monday with back-up information as to why their reason for denial was incorrect. I was still waiting for a response when I received an email first thing this AM with subject matter, VA Appointment Reminder. That email reminder showed by 24 July AuD appointment was “Confirmed.” So, I called the AuD clinic and the VA letter was “sent in error”–yeah right, and I’m the Easter Bunny! Anyway, I was able to move up the appointment to this Wednesday AM, so I hope to speak to them about trialing Starkey Livio Edge -R or -R custom hearing aids.
The Community Care request problem is with the eligibility Access Standards. These standard include 2 criteria and the VA is requiring both criteria. One criteria is an “average drive time” and the other is an “appointment wait time.” These criteria are "OR’ and not “AND” requirements. The VA Community Care webpage lists them as “AND” requirements but the documents in the download section of this webpage list them as “OR” requirements. More importantly, the VA Final Rule for THE MISSION ACT states “that the average drive time is an independent qualifier and the wait time is not.”

In reply to @brian_s

Two years later update from my March 2019 post: In late February, 2021, I went to the audiologist for my hearing test appointment. She recommended the Phonak Audeo P-90 rechargeables, but there were other choices. A month later I went in, did the final fittings, and left with the HAs, Partner Mic, and TV Connect. Great service. No copay charge yet, but its only been 3 weeks since I got the HAs.

Was your hearing loss service related, also the the government has waived all copays from I believe March 15 2020 until September this year. My hearing loss is service related and I pay nothing for my aids.

My hearing loss is not service related, nor do I have any kind of service related disability. I did not know about the service charges being waived. Minor detail when I received several thousand dollars worth of and associated equipment and services for free.

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