Government hearing loss compensation runs through two separate federal programs, and the one that applies depends on how you were exposed. Veterans with hearing loss connected to military service file with the Department of Veterans Affairs for tax-free monthly disability payments, which in 2026 range from $180.42 at a 10% rating to $3,938.58 at 100% for a veteran with no dependents.1Department of Veterans Affairs. Current Veterans Disability Compensation Rates Federal civilian employees whose hearing loss came from on-the-job noise file under the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA), which pays a lump-sum scheduled award based on the measured percentage of impairment.2U.S. Department of Labor. Federal Employees’ Compensation Act The eligibility rules, evidence, deadlines, and appeal paths are different for each.
The VA Route for Veterans
Hearing loss is the most common service-connected disability among veterans, and the VA pays monthly compensation based on a rating from 0% to 100%.3U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Research – Hearing Loss Veterans with dependents receive higher amounts once the rating hits 30%. A 0% rating means the VA agrees your hearing loss is service-connected but considers it too mild for cash payments; it still opens access to VA healthcare, dental, vision, travel reimbursement for medical appointments, and VA life insurance.4Department of Veterans Affairs. Non-Compensable Disability
File Tinnitus Separately
If you have persistent ringing, buzzing, or humming in your ears, file a separate tinnitus claim alongside your hearing loss claim. Under diagnostic code 6260, recurrent tinnitus is rated at 10% whether it affects one ear or both, worth $180.42 per month in 2026.1Department of Veterans Affairs. Current Veterans Disability Compensation Rates Many veterans qualify for tinnitus compensation even when their measured hearing loss comes in at 0%.
How the VA Rates Hearing Loss
Hearing ratings are mechanical in a way most VA disabilities are not. Two tests drive everything: a puretone audiometry test measuring the quietest sounds you can hear at 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hertz, and a Maryland CNC speech discrimination test measuring how many spoken words you understand.5eCFR. 38 CFR 4.85 – Evaluation of Hearing Impairment Both are done without hearing aids.
The results feed a two-step table. Table VI converts each ear’s numbers into a Roman numeral from I to XI. Table VII then pairs the two Roman numerals to produce your final percentage. The system is strict, which is why veterans with real day-to-day hearing difficulty often receive 0% or 10%. If your puretone thresholds at all four frequencies are 55 decibels or higher, or if you have near-normal low-frequency hearing paired with severe high-frequency loss, the VA applies an alternative table that can produce a higher rating.6eCFR. 38 CFR 4.86 – Exceptional Patterns of Hearing Impairment When only one ear is service-connected, the other is treated as normal for rating purposes, which caps the resulting percentage.
What You Have to Prove
A VA hearing loss claim needs three things: a current diagnosis, evidence of noise exposure or ear trauma during service, and a medical link between the two.
The diagnosis has to come from a licensed audiologist using the puretone and Maryland CNC tests. In-service exposure can be shown through service records, but the VA also maintains an internal Duty MOS Noise Exposure Listing that sorts military jobs into high, moderate, and low probability categories. If your MOS falls in the high or moderate group, the VA concedes noise exposure without requiring you to prove it independently. Veterans with confirmed combat service get automatic concession regardless of MOS.
Sensorineural hearing loss — the most common noise-related type — is on the VA’s list of chronic diseases eligible for presumptive service connection.7eCFR. 38 CFR 3.309 – Disease Subject to Presumptive Service Connection If it’s diagnosed within one year of separating from active duty, the VA presumes it came from service and no separate nexus opinion is required. Filing quickly after discharge is the easiest path.
Outside that one-year window, you generally need a nexus letter: a written opinion from a physician or audiologist stating your hearing loss is “at least as likely as not” connected to your military noise exposure. That standard is 50% probability, not certainty. A gap in your service medical records is not fatal — it’s one factor among several. Private diagnostic exams run roughly $100 to $300, and nexus letters often run $1,200 to $3,000 or more depending on complexity. The VA doesn’t reimburse either cost, but a strong nexus letter is frequently what separates approval from denial on older claims.
Filing the VA Claim
Before submitting the full application, file an Intent to File. It takes minutes on VA.gov and locks in your effective date, so if the claim is later approved, payments backdate to the intent date instead of the submission date. You have 365 days from the intent to file the complete claim, or that earlier effective date is lost.8U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Finish Your Benefits Claims Within One Year
The claim itself goes on VA Form 21-526EZ, filed electronically through VA.gov, by mail, or in person at a regional office.9Department of Veterans Affairs. About VA Form 21-526EZ The VA will then schedule a Compensation and Pension (C&P) exam with a contracted audiologist.10Department of Veterans Affairs. How To File A VA Disability Claim Do not miss it. Expect an ear exam, a full audiometric test, and questions about your noise exposure history. The examiner records findings on a Disability Benefits Questionnaire, which is what the rater relies on. The claims process averaged about 85 days from filing to decision as of early 2026.
Personal statements about the noise you experienced and buddy statements from fellow service members carry real weight, especially when official records are thin on the day-to-day noise environment.
If the VA Denies Your Claim
Under the Appeals Modernization Act, you have three options after a denial or a low rating.11Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Decision Reviews And Appeals
- A Supplemental Claim lets you submit new and relevant evidence. Filing within one year of the decision preserves your original effective date.12Department of Veterans Affairs. Decision Reviews FAQs
- A Higher-Level Review sends the same evidence to a more senior reviewer, without new submissions. It has to be filed within one year.
- A Board Appeal sends the case to a Veterans Law Judge at the Board of Veterans’ Appeals, with options for direct review, a hearing, or new evidence. Also a one-year deadline.
For hearing loss specifically, the most productive route is usually a Supplemental Claim with a stronger nexus letter, a more detailed personal statement, or updated audiometric testing. A Higher-Level Review rarely moves the needle on hearing ratings because the tables leave little room for interpretation.
The FECA Route for Federal Civilian Employees
If your hearing loss came from noise on a federal civilian job — a shipyard, a maintenance facility, a postal sorting center, or similar — you file under FECA with the Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs.13U.S. Department of Labor. Federal Employees’ Compensation Act – Frequently Asked Questions FECA is a workers’ compensation program, not a disability rating system, so the analysis focuses on whether the noise exposure happened while you were performing your official duties.
The claim goes on Form CA-2 (Notice of Occupational Disease) through the ECOMP electronic filing system.14U.S. Department of Labor. How to File a Workers’ Compensation Claim Your employing agency completes its portion and forwards the package to OWCP. The deadline is three years from when you knew, or reasonably should have known, that your hearing loss was work-related. Because hearing loss develops gradually, that clock often starts the day a doctor first tells you it’s connected to your job, not when the exposure began. If you miss the three-year window, compensation may still be paid if written notice was given within 30 days of the injury or your employer had actual knowledge within that time.
How FECA Calculates the Award
FECA pays a “scheduled award” — a fixed number of weeks of pay tied to the severity of the permanent impairment, regardless of whether you lost any wages. The statute allows up to 52 weeks for complete loss of hearing in one ear and 200 weeks for complete loss in both ears.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 8107 – Compensation Schedule Partial loss is prorated.
OWCP measures impairment using thresholds at 1000, 2000, and 3000 Hertz in each ear, subtracts a 25-decibel baseline for normal age-related hearing, and converts the remaining loss to a percentage. When both ears are affected, the formula weights the better ear more heavily: multiply the better ear’s impairment by five, add the worse ear’s impairment, and divide by six.16U.S. Government Accountability Office. Hearing Loss Compensation Criteria Used by the Department of Labor Under FECA That binaural percentage is multiplied by 200 weeks to set the award duration.
Each week pays two-thirds of your average weekly wage if you have no dependents, or three-fourths if you do, capped at three-fourths of the maximum pay for a GS-15 employee. The award compensates the permanent impairment itself, so lost work time is not required to qualify.
Appealing a FECA Denial
If OWCP denies the claim or you disagree with the impairment percentage, you can appeal to the Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board (ECAB) within 180 days.17U.S. Department of Labor. ECAB – Processing an Appeal One rule shapes the whole strategy: ECAB cannot consider new evidence. If you have additional medical documentation, send it to OWCP with a request for reconsideration instead of going to the board. Oral argument before ECAB must be requested in writing within 60 days of filing the appeal. After ECAB decides, you have 30 days to petition for reconsideration, and then the decision is final. Because the board reviews only the existing record, build the strongest possible medical case at the initial claim stage.
How These Benefits Interact With Social Security
VA disability compensation and Social Security retirement or disability benefits do not offset each other; a veteran can collect both in full. FECA is different. The Department of Labor reduces FECA benefits by the portion of any Social Security retirement or survivor benefit that comes from federal service earnings from 1984 forward. The reduction hits the FECA payment, not the Social Security check. If your only Social Security benefit is disability rather than retirement, the offset does not apply.18Social Security Administration. FERS/FECA Offset