VA Hearing Test: Clinical Audiology Visit or C&P Claim Exam

Can a Veteran book VA audiology without a referral?

Yes. The VA lists audiology as one of the few services a Veteran can schedule directly, without a referral from a primary care provider or any other health care professional. Registration still comes first; only the referral step drops out.

1. Register and enroll at the enrollment section of the VA medical center you choose. The VA hearing aid page asks for a copy of your military discharge record, a driver's license and your health insurance information, if you have it.
2. Book the hearing evaluation at a VA Audiology and Speech Pathology Clinic. The VA names three channels: a call to your local VA facility, the VA online scheduling tool, or secure messaging with your provider.
3. Attend the evaluation. It is a clinical visit about your hearing care, not a step in a claim.

Not enrolled yet? The application form and the hearing aid benefit are on our VA hearing aids page; this page stays on the test.

Is a clinical hearing test the same as a C&P examination?

No. After you file a disability claim, the VA may ask you to have a claim exam, also called a compensation and pension (C&P) exam. The VA states that a claim exam is not like a normal medical exam, and the differences decide what you get out of each visit.

• Purpose. A clinical evaluation serves your hearing care. A claim exam exists to gather information that helps the VA decide your claim.
• Treatment. At a claim exam, the provider will not treat you for any illness or injury, give you referrals to other providers or prescribe medicine. Hearing aids come from the clinical side.
• Results. The claim examiner cannot tell you the exam results, answer questions about the claims process or decide your claim.
• Who examines you. A VA provider or a VA contract provider. The VA states that its contractors follow the same medical training and licensing standards as its own providers.
• Extra tests. If the claim examiner asks you to get other tests, they come at no cost to you.

One visit does not stand in for the other. A claim exam gives no referral to audiology, and a clinical hearing evaluation is not a claim decision.

What testing is required for a VA rating examination?

For a hearing loss claim, the VA rating schedule sets the exam standard itself, in its section on the evaluation of hearing impairment. The exam must meet four conditions:

1. It is conducted by a state-licensed audiologist.
2. It includes a controlled speech discrimination test, the Maryland CNC.
3. It includes a puretone audiometry test.
4. It is conducted without the use of hearing aids.

The fourth condition matters to anyone who wears aids every day: the regulation measures unaided hearing, so plan to take them out for the test. The speech score and the puretone results then feed the rating tables. That step belongs to the VA rating specialist. Our VA rating for hearing loss with hearing aids page explains the tables and the monthly rates, without computing a rating for you.

You may also have your own provider examine you and fill out a Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ) for the claim. The VA states that it will not pay or reimburse any costs related to your own provider.

Which remote audiology services does VHA offer?

The Veterans Health Administration lists three remote ways to deliver audiology care:

• Clinic-to-clinic teleaudiology connects Veterans at local clinics with a provider at a larger facility.
• Clinic-to-home teleaudiology lets Veterans receive care from their homes.
• Remote hearing aid programming lets audiologists adjust and fine-tune hearing aids without an in-person visit.

All three belong to clinical care for enrolled Veterans. None of them replaces a rating exam: the claim standard above calls for a state-licensed audiologist, a controlled speech test and puretone audiometry, without hearing aids. The VA page lists the methods, not which clinic runs which one, so ask your audiology clinic what it offers before you count on care from home.

How does the hearing aid care route differ from the disability claim route?

The two routes start at different doors and end with different decisions.

Care route

1. Register and enroll in VA health care.
2. Book a hearing evaluation at the audiology clinic, with no referral.
3. The audiologist decides on hearing aids or other devices; remote programming can follow the fitting.

Claim route

1. File a disability benefits claim for hearing loss.
2. The VA may ask you to have a claim exam with a VA or contract provider.
3. The examiner gathers information: no treatment, no referral, no results at the visit.
4. The VA decides the claim and the rating.

What each route costs you

On the claim route, other tests the examiner requests are at no cost to you, and costs tied to your own provider's DBQ are not reimbursed. On the care route, the hearing aid terms are on our VA hearing aids page. For a test outside the VA, compare hearing test cost and free hearing test options.