Why the VA Rates Most Hearing Loss at 0%

The VA rates hearing loss with a mechanical table, not by how bad it feels, which is why real, measurable loss often comes back at 0%. A controlled exam measures two numbers, and those numbers, not your symptoms, set the rating under Diagnostic Code 6100.

Host Grace is joined by co-hosts Nova, River, and Liam to walk the exact rating machine step by step: the puretone threshold average across 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hz, the Maryland CNC speech-discrimination score, and how Tables VI, VIA, and VII turn those two numbers into your final percentage. We explain calmly why a 0% evaluation is common and legally correct under the rules, and the two exceptional patterns in 38 CFR 4.86 that can quietly raise your numeral.

In this video:

• Why hearing loss is rated by audiometry, not by how the loss feels day to day
• The two numbers your exam measures and how each one is scored
• How Table VI assigns a Roman numeral and Table VII combines both ears
• Why two normal-looking level I ears intersect at the 0% cell
• The two 38 CFR 4.86 exceptional patterns that trigger Table VIA
• How tinnitus (Diagnostic Code 6260) is rated and why you file both claims together