BVA decisions by condition
Bilateral hearing loss: BVA grant rates and what wins
From 2017 to 2026, the Board of Veterans' Appeals decided a bilateral hearing loss issue in 4,360 decisions. It granted the bilateral hearing loss issue in 0.1% of them, below the 19.4% grant rate for all conditions, denied it in 9.4%, and remanded it in 85.5%. Counting only decisions on the merits (granted or denied), 1.2% were granted.
From Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions: appeals, not VA's first decisions. Issue-level outcomes.
Decisions
4,360
2017–2026
Granted
0.1%
All conditions: 19.4%
Granted on the merits
1.2%
Granted ÷ (granted + denied)
Remanded
85.5%
Denied: 9.4%
At a glance
- Issues granted: 0.0% in 2017, 0.0% in 2026. Details
Evidence in granted and denied bilateral hearing loss decisions
For each kind of supporting evidence: how often the Board granted the bilateral hearing loss issue on the merits when the decision mentioned it, compared with decisions that did not. These are associations, not causes, and evidence is recorded per decision, not per issue.
| In the record | Decisions | Granted when present | When absent | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Favorable VA exam | 676 | 2.4% | 0.9% | +1.5 pts |
| Lay statement | 3,970 | 1.5% | 0.0% | +1.5 pts |
| Positive nexus opinion | 1,024 | 1.9% | 1.0% | +0.9 pts |
| Treating physician opinion | 212 | 0.0% | 1.2% | −1.2 pts |
| Buddy statement | 182 | 0.0% | 1.3% | −1.3 pts |
| Combat service | 493 | 0.0% | 1.4% | −1.4 pts |
| Private medical opinion | 1,500 | 0.0% | 1.8% | −1.8 pts |
- The Board applied the benefit-of-the-doubt rule (38 CFR 3.102) in 60.0% of the decisions that granted bilateral hearing loss.
- The Board found the veteran's statements credible in 40.0% of grants and 26.9% of denials.
Negative evidence in the record
An unfavorable exam or a negative nexus opinion often sits in the same record as favorable evidence, and the Board weighs them against each other. So these rows show how often bilateral hearing loss was still granted when the record contained the negative item, not that the item helped.
| In the record | Decisions | Granted when present | When absent | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unfavorable VA exam | 3,621 | 1.4% | 0.0% | +1.4 pts |
| Negative nexus opinion | 2,771 | 1.8% | 0.5% | +1.2 pts |
Recent bilateral hearing loss decisions
Granted
Denied
Bilateral hearing loss outcomes by year
| Year | Issues decided | Granted | Denied | Remanded | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 192 | 0.0% | 5.7% | 83.9% | 10.4% |
| 2018 | 494 | 0.4% | 5.7% | 88.3% | 5.7% |
| 2019 | 566 | 0.0% | 10.2% | 87.3% | 2.5% |
| 2020 | 498 | 0.2% | 9.4% | 84.5% | 5.8% |
| 2021 | 445 | 0.0% | 6.7% | 85.2% | 8.1% |
| 2022 | 576 | 0.2% | 6.3% | 88.7% | 4.9% |
| 2023 | 594 | 0.0% | 9.1% | 84.7% | 6.2% |
| 2024 | 470 | 0.2% | 10.2% | 86.4% | 3.2% |
| 2025 | 355 | 0.0% | 17.5% | 79.7% | 2.8% |
| 2026 | 170 | 0.0% | 20.6% | 78.8% | 0.6% |
Each row counts issues (each condition the Board decided), so the shares add up to 100%. Other: dismissed, withdrawn or no clear outcome. Years with fewer than 50 issues are left out.
Rules that apply to bilateral hearing loss claims
- 38 CFR 3.303
Principles of service connection
Read it in VA Law Explorer - 38 CFR 3.310
Secondary service connection and aggravation
Read it in VA Law Explorer - 38 CFR 3.102
Reasonable doubt (benefit of the doubt)
Read it in VA Law Explorer
Research your bilateral hearing loss case
Narrow by year, judge, evidence or secondary condition, read the decisions, and export a research memo.
How these numbers are calculated
- Rates count decisions in which the Board decided a bilateral hearing loss issue, by the outcome of that issue. Other issues in the same decision can have different outcomes.
- “Granted on the merits” leaves out remands and dismissals. “All conditions” is the grant share across every condition issue in the data.
- The data comes from CaseScribe's AI extraction of public BVA decisions (2017–2026) and can contain errors. It is updated automatically as new decisions are added.
Where this data comes from
- Claim
- Regional office decides
- Veteran appeals
- Board decides
- Granted · Denied · Remanded: back to the regional office
Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions show how VA's highest review body applies 38 CFR and weighs evidence on contested claims.
Each one is an appeal: a regional office decided the claim first, and the veteran appealed. So these rates describe the Board, not a veteran's odds at the regional office, where most claims are decided and whose decisions are not public.
More on what Board decisions can and cannot tell you