,,ii  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #aehb  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,october #bh1  
#bjac,mr4 ,sanders introduced the       
following bill2 which was read twice and
 referred to the ,committee on          
,veterans' ,affairs  ,a ,,bill  ,to     
require the ,secretary of ,veterans     
,affairs to submit reports on the       
provision of services by the ,department
 of ,veterans ,affairs to veterans with 
hearing loss and other auditory system  
injuries and the measures that can be   
taken jointly by the ,department of     
,veterans ,affairs and the ,department  
of ,defense with respect to hearing loss
 and other auditory system injuries1 and
 for other purposes4  #a4 ,short title  
,this ,act may be cited as the ,improved
 ,compensation for ,hearing ,loss ,act  
of #bjac4  #b4 ,report on practices of  
the ,department of ,veterans ,affairs to
 adequately provide services to veterans
 with hearing loss  7a7 ,in general ,not
 later than one year after the date of  

the enactment of this ,act1 the         
,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs shall  
submit to the ,committee on ,veterans'  
,affairs of the ,senate and the         
,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs of the
 ,house of ,representatives a report on 
the actions taken by the ,secretary to  
implement the findings and              
recommendations included in the #bjjf   
report by the ,institute of ,medicine of
 the ,national ,academies entitled      
,noise and ,military ,service3          
,implications for ,hearing ,loss and    
,tinnitus that was prepared pursuant to 
section #ajd of the ,veterans ,benefits 
,act of #bjjb 7,public ,law #ajg-ccj2   
#aaf ,stat4 #bhbb74  7b7 ,effect of     
,duty ,military ,occupational ,specialty
 ,noise ,exposure ,listing on receipt of
 benefits by veterans  7#a7 ,in general 
,the ,secretary shall include in the    
report required by subsection 7a7 an    
evaluation of the extent to which       
veterans who had a military occupational
 specialty during service as a member of

 the ,armed ,forces that is not included
 on the ,duty ,military ,occupational   
,specialty ,noise ,exposure ,listing 7in
 this subsection referred to as the     
,,mos ,list7 are precluded from         
receiving benefits related to hearing   
loss from the ,department of ,veterans  
,affairs4  7#b7 ,data ,the ,secretary   
shall include in the evaluation required
 by paragraph 7#a7 the following3 7,a7  
,with respect to veterans who had a     
military occupational specialty included
 on the ,,mos ,list-- 7i7 the number of 
claims for benefits related to hearing  
loss from the ,department of ,veterans  
,affairs that were granted2 and  7ii7   
the number of claims for benefits       
related to hearing loss from the        
,department that were denied4  7,b7     
,with respect to veterans who had a     
military occupational specialty not     
included on the ,,mos ,list-- 7i7 the   
number of claims for benefits related to
 hearing loss from the ,department that 
were granted2  7ii7 the number of claims

 for benefits related to hearing loss   
from the ,department that were denied2  
7iii7 of the number of denied claims    
under clause 7ii71 the number of those  
claims that were appealed2 and  7iv7 of 
the number of appealed claims under     
clause 7iii71 the number of those       
appealed claims that were successfully  
appealed4  7c7 ,additional matters ,the 
,secretary shall include in the report  
required by subsection 7a7 the          
following3 7#a7 ,in the case of a       
veteran with unilateral hearing loss1 an
 explanation of the scientific basis for
 the practice of the ,department of     
determining a disability rating level   
with respect to hearing based on an     
examination of that veteran's healthy   
ear instead of the injured ear4  7#b7   
,an analysis of the reduction in earning
 capacity for veterans as a result of   
unilateral hearing loss1 with a focus on
 the ability of those veterans-- 7,a7 to
 detect the direction of sound2 and     
7,b7 to understand speech4  7#c7 ,an    

explanation of the rationale for the    
practice of the ,department of not      
issuing a compensable rating for hearing
 loss at certain levels that are severe 
enough to require the use of hearing    
aids4  7#d7 ,a survey of the            
audiologists that conduct compensation  
and pension examinations for the        
,department to assess the implementation
 of the most recent edition of the best 
practices manual for hearing loss and   
tinnitus examinations that includes the 
following3 7,a7 ,a description of the   
training received by those audiologists 
compared to the methods described in the
 most recent edition of the best        
practices manual for hearing loss and   
tinnitus examinations4  7,b7 ,an        
assessment of how those audiologists    
have complied with that training4  7,c7 
,whether those audiologists are using a 
range of tones up to #hjjj hertz to test
 the hearing of veterans4  #c4 ,report  
on joint programs of ,department of     
,veterans ,affairs and ,department of   

,defense with respect to hearing loss of
 members of the ,armed ,forces and      
veterans ,not later than one year after 
the date of the enactment of this ,act1 
the ,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs    
shall1 in consultation with the         
,secretary of ,defense1 submit to       
,congress a report that identifies the  
following3 7#a7 ,goals for the          
,department of ,veterans ,affairs and   
the ,department of ,defense for the     
prevention1 early detection1 and        
treatment of hearing loss by the        
,national ,center for ,rehabilitative   
,auditory ,research of the ,department  
of ,veterans ,affairs and the ,hearing  
,center of ,excellence of the           
,department of ,defense4  7#b7          
,resources of the ,department of        
,veterans ,affairs that could be made   
available to assist the ,department of  
,defense in conducting audiometric tests
 and tinnitus screenings for members of 
the ,armed ,forces4  7#c7 ,barriers to  
information being added to the ,hearing 

,loss and ,auditory ,system ,injury     
,registry required under section        
#gba7;c77#a7 of the ,duncan ,hunter     
,national ,defense ,authorization ,act  
for ,fiscal ,year #bjji 7,public ,law   
#aaj-dag2 #abb ,stat4 #dejf74  7#d7     
,recommendations for any legislative or 
administrative actions necessary with   
respect to the ,hearing ,loss and       
,auditory ,system ,injury ,registry--   
7,a7 to assist in achieving the goals   
specified in paragraph 7#a72  7,b7 to   
improve the adjudication of claims for  
benefits with respect to hearing loss2  
and  7,c7 to further the research       
objectives of the ,national ,center for 
,rehabilitative ,auditory ,research of  
the ,department of ,veterans ,affairs   
and the ,hearing ,center of ,excellence 
of the ,department of ,defense4