The rating that actually governs a VA tinnitus claim today is not a headline about “bundling,” a proposed rule from 2022, or a House bill from 2026. It is 38 C.F.R. § 4.87, Diagnostic Code 6260, “Tinnitus, recurrent.” That code is current law. It assigns a 10 percent evaluation. The February 15, 2022 rewrite published at 87 Fed. Reg. 8474 is a proposed rule. It is not in effect. H.R. 9237, 119th Cong. (2025–2026), titled on Congress.gov as the “Take Care of America's Veterans Act,” is a bill trying to get through Congress. It is not law at this time.

Those three sentences decide more of a tinnitus claim than most of what is circulating about “the new VA tinnitus rating.” A claim, a supplemental claim, or an appeal is decided under the regulation that is in force when VA applies the schedule—not under a Federal Register proposal that never became a final rule, and not under a House bill whose latest action is postponed proceedings. This post quotes the law that is in force, states what the 2022 proposal actually said about deleting Diagnostic Code 6260, records that no final rule replacing Diagnostic Code 6260 was found as of August 17, 2026, and records what Congress.gov actually shows for H.R. 9237. It does not predict a rating. It does not promise that a current evaluation will be kept or lost. It does not invent bill language that was not independently read in full.

The regulation that is in force

38 C.F.R. § 4.87 is the “Schedule of ratings—ear.” Diagnostic Code 6260 sits at the end of that schedule. The Legal Information Institute text of 38 C.F.R. § 4.87, opened August 17, 2026, prints the following criteria and this source note: “[64 FR 25210, May 11, 1999, as amended at 68 FR 25823, May 14, 2003].” That source note is the last published amendment shown on that official text. It is not a 2022 amendment. It is not a 2024 amendment. It is not a 2026 amendment.

Diagnostic Code 6260, quoted in full from that text:

6260 Tinnitus, recurrent — 10

Note (1): A separate evaluation for tinnitus may be combined with an evaluation under diagnostic codes 6100, 6200, 6204, or other diagnostic code, except when tinnitus supports an evaluation under one of those diagnostic codes.

Note (2): Assign only a single evaluation for recurrent tinnitus, whether the sound is perceived in one ear, both ears, or in the head.

Note (3): Do not evaluate objective tinnitus (in which the sound is audible to other people and has a definable cause that may or may not be pathologic) under this diagnostic code, but evaluate it as part of any underlying condition causing it.

(Authority: 38 U.S.C. 1155.)

That is the whole code. One compensable level. Ten percent. The evaluation is for “Tinnitus, recurrent.” Note (2) is the single-evaluation rule: one rating, whether the sound is perceived in one ear, both ears, or in the head. Note (1) is the combination rule: a separate tinnitus evaluation may be combined with an evaluation under diagnostic codes 6100, 6200, 6204, or another diagnostic code, except when tinnitus supports an evaluation under one of those codes. Note (3) keeps objective tinnitus out of Diagnostic Code 6260 and puts it with the underlying condition.

Service connection is a separate question from the percentage. Diagnostic Code 6260 assigns a percentage after recurrent tinnitus is service-connected. It does not, by itself, establish service connection, an effective date, or entitlement to any particular combined evaluation. Those issues are decided under the rest of title 38, including 38 U.S.C. § 1110 or § 1131 (basic entitlement) and 38 C.F.R. Part 3 (adjudication). This post does not collapse those questions into the rating code.

What a 10 percent evaluation under current Diagnostic Code 6260 is, and is not

The current criterion is a standalone diagnostic code for recurrent tinnitus. The regulation does not, in the text of Diagnostic Code 6260, ask whether hearing loss is already compensable, whether treatment is “effective,” or whether tinnitus is “only a symptom” of another rated disability except as Note (1) and Note (3) already provide. The phrases that would delete Diagnostic Code 6260 and move tinnitus into Diagnostic Code 6100 appear in the 2022 proposal. They are not in the current code.

That distinction matters because a large share of public discussion treats the proposal as if it had already replaced the schedule. It has not. A rater applying 38 C.F.R. § 4.87 today is still applying Diagnostic Code 6260 as last amended in 2003, still shown on the Legal Information Institute text of § 4.87. Whether a particular veteran's file meets “Tinnitus, recurrent,” and whether Note (1) or Note (3) changes how that evaluation is combined, is a facts-and-evidence question. This firm will not invent a percentage for a file it has not reviewed, and this post will not pretend that the existence of a tinnitus complaint is, in every case, the end of the analysis. The regulation is the starting point. The claims file is the rest of the case.

Note (2) is equally specific. Bilateral perception does not produce two 10 percent evaluations under Diagnostic Code 6260. The text is: “Assign only a single evaluation for recurrent tinnitus, whether the sound is perceived in one ear, both ears, or in the head.” The schedule is a schedule. It is applied as written.

The 2022 document is a proposed rule. It is not the rating schedule.

On February 15, 2022, the Department of Veterans Affairs published, in the Federal Register, a proposed rule: “Schedule for Rating Disabilities—Ear, Nose, Throat, and Audiology Disabilities; Special Provisions Regarding Evaluation of Respiratory Conditions; Schedule for Rating Disabilities—Respiratory System,” 87 Fed. Reg. 8474 (Feb. 15, 2022) (RIN 2900–AQ72). The document's own caption is “ACTION: Proposed rule.” The comment window stated in that notice was: “VA must receive comments on or before April 18, 2022.”

A proposed rule is a notice of what an agency is considering. It does not amend the Code of Federal Regulations by being printed. It does not become the rating schedule because it was discussed for four years. Until a final rule is published and takes effect, 38 C.F.R. § 4.87, Diagnostic Code 6260, remains the law that is applied.

The 2022 preamble is explicit that VA was proposing to take tinnitus out of a standalone code. Under the heading for Diagnostic Code 6260, the notice states: “As previously noted under revisions to Sec. 4.85, VA proposes to remove DC 6260.” 87 Fed. Reg. at 8482. The earlier discussion of Diagnostic Code 6100 states the proposed substitute:

“VA proposes to evaluate tinnitus only as part of its underlying pathology and to delete DC 6260 entirely. In other words, tinnitus will be compensated through application of DCs 6100, 6204, 6205, 8045, 8046, or 9305, depending on its service-connected cause. For tinnitus associated with service-connected hearing loss in particular, the presence of tinnitus generally does not impact earning capacity beyond what is already contemplated at the compensable levels of hearing loss, though VA recognizes that the presence of tinnitus combined with noncompensable hearing loss could have more than a 0% impact on earning capacity. Thus, DC 6100 will provide a 10% evaluation for tinnitus associated with hearing loss only when hearing loss is noncompensable (only when hearing loss, on its own, does not warrant a 10% evaluation or higher). If hearing loss is compensable (warranting a 10% evaluation or greater), an additional 10% evaluation for tinnitus associated with the hearing loss shall not be assigned.” 87 Fed. Reg. at 8480.

The same preamble then states: “To that end, VA will add two notes under DC 6100. The first note will list examples of which disabilities contemplate tinnitus as a symptom of a given underlying pathology. The second note will provide that tinnitus is only compensated as part of an underlying service-connected condition.” 87 Fed. Reg. at 8480. The notice also states: “VA notes that this proposal will have no impact on veterans currently in receipt of service connection for tinnitus under DC 6260; these evaluations are governed under the provisions of 38 CFR 3.951(a).” 87 Fed. Reg. at 8480. That last sentence is a statement in a proposed rule about 38 C.F.R. § 3.951(a). Section 3.951(a) was not independently opened for this post. It is not quoted here.

The proposed table printed later in the same notice, under Diagnostic Code 6100, reads:

6100 Hearing Loss:

If hearing loss is evaluated at 0 percent under Table VII and tinnitus is diagnosed as associated with underlying hearing loss — 10

Otherwise, evaluate using the Tables above.

Note (1): The 10 percent evaluation is only applicable to tinnitus diagnosed as associated with non-compensable service-connected hearing loss. Tinnitus diagnosed as associated with another service-connected disability (i.e., Meniere's disease, residuals of traumatic brain injury (TBI), cerebral arteriosclerosis, vascular neurocognitive disorder) must be evaluated as a part of that disability without a separate evaluation for tinnitus under diagnostic code 6100.

Note (2): Tinnitus will only be compensated as part of an underlying service-connected condition.

87 Fed. Reg. at 8488.

That table is proposed text. It is not 38 C.F.R. § 4.87 as now printed. It would, if it ever became a final rule in that form, delete the standalone Diagnostic Code 6260 evaluation and confine a 10 percent tinnitus add-on, for hearing loss, to cases in which hearing loss itself is evaluated at 0 percent under Table VII. None of that has been adopted as a final rule. Quoting the proposal is not the same as applying it.

The 2024 supplemental notice still was not a final rule, and it did not replace Diagnostic Code 6260

On September 12, 2024, VA published a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking under the same RIN, 2900–AQ72: 89 Fed. Reg. 74162 (Sept. 12, 2024). The caption is “ACTION: Supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking.” The summary states that VA “is issuing a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (SNPRM) that proposes to add a diagnostic code (DC) for constrictive bronchiolitis (or obliterative bronchiolitis) (CB).” The body is narrower still: “The CB addition is the only proposal of this SNPRM, and VA is seeking public comment on this issue only.” 89 Fed. Reg. at 74162.

That SNPRM refers back to the February 15, 2022 proposal (87 Fed. Reg. 8474) and states: “VA will address all the public comments received on the proposed rule and any public comments VA receives on this SNPRM in the final rulemaking.” 89 Fed. Reg. at 74162. That sentence is an agency statement that a final rulemaking was still in the future as of September 12, 2024. The SNPRM does not publish final Diagnostic Code 6260 criteria. It does not delete Diagnostic Code 6260. It proposes adding Diagnostic Code 6605 for constrictive bronchiolitis.

No final rule replacing Diagnostic Code 6260 was found as of August 17, 2026

The official texts were opened on August 17, 2026. The Legal Information Institute text of 38 C.F.R. § 4.87 still prints Diagnostic Code 6260, the 10 percent criterion, Notes (1) through (3), and the 1999/2003 source note. The 2022 document is still captioned a proposed rule. The 2024 document is still captioned a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking. A search of Federal Register materials for a final rule under RIN 2900–AQ72 that deletes or replaces Diagnostic Code 6260 did not locate one.

As of August 17, 2026, no final rule replacing 38 C.F.R. § 4.87, Diagnostic Code 6260, after the 2022 proposal was found in the official sources opened for this post. If a final rule is later published in the Federal Register with an effective date, that document—not this post, and not a secondary article—will be the source to read. Until then, the current Diagnostic Code 6260 criteria quoted above are the criteria that the opened official texts show as in force.

This firm will not treat a blog post, a news story, or a “2026 rating change” explainer as a substitute for the Federal Register and the C.F.R. Secondary articles describing the proposal as still proposed are consistent with what the official texts show; they are not themselves the law.

H.R. 9237 is a bill trying to get through Congress. It is not law.

H.R. 9237, 119th Cong. (2025–2026), appears on Congress.gov as “H.R.9237 — 119th Congress (2025-2026): Take Care of America's Veterans Act.” It was introduced in the House on June 10, 2026, by Rep. Mike Bost [R–IL–12], and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs and, in addition, the Committee on Armed Services.

The latest action actually shown on the Congress.gov bill page when that page was opened on August 17, 2026, is:

Latest Action: House — 07/16/2026 POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS — Pursuant to clause 1(c) of rule XIX, the Chair announced further proceedings on H.R. 9237 is postponed.

The same overview lists the bill's status tracker as Introduced. It does not show Passed House, Passed Senate, To President, or Became Law.

A bill that has been introduced, taken up, and then had further proceedings postponed is still a bill. It is not 38 C.F.R. § 4.87. It is not a final rule. It does not repeal Diagnostic Code 6260. It does not assign a veteran a percentage. Congress.gov's own tracker, as opened for this post, still places H.R. 9237 at introduced—not enacted.

The Congress.gov overview page, as opened, includes a CRS-style summary line that the bill, among other elements, “revises VA disability ratings for sleep apnea and tinnitus.” That is a summary on the bill page. It is not the enrolled text of a statute, and there is no enrolled statute. This post does not quote operative tinnitus sections of H.R. 9237. The Congress.gov all-actions page and a complete section-by-section read of the bill text were not independently completed in full after the bill page itself loaded. The only H.R. 9237 facts this post relies on are the title, the introduction date and sponsor, the committees of referral, the July 16, 2026 postponed-proceedings action, the tracker status of Introduced, and that CRS-style overview line as a summary, not as statutory text.

Veterans asking whether “Congress already changed the tinnitus rating” are asking the wrong question if they mean H.R. 9237. Congress has not enacted H.R. 9237. The rating schedule in force remains 38 C.F.R. § 4.87, Diagnostic Code 6260.

An intent to file protects a claim date. It does not rewrite the schedule.

38 C.F.R. § 3.155 is the intent-to-file rule. It is not a rating code, and it is not a guarantee that “old” Diagnostic Code 6260 criteria will apply forever. The section was not re-opened for this post and is not quoted. An intent to file, if it applies, is date protection for a complete claim that is perfected in time. It is not a promise that a proposed rule will never take effect. It is not a promise of a 10 percent evaluation.

Because no final rule replacing Diagnostic Code 6260 was found as of August 17, 2026, the “old versus new criteria” problem is, today, a problem about a proposal and a bill—not about two competing versions of the C.F.R.

What this means for a claim, a denial, or an appeal—without promising a result

A tinnitus case is still a veterans disability case. The questions are the ordinary ones: diagnosis of recurrent tinnitus, nexus to service or to a service-connected disability, the correct diagnostic code, the correct percentage under the schedule that is in force, the correct effective date, and, if the regional office has already decided the issue, the correct review lane under 38 U.S.C. §§ 5104B, 5104C, and 7105 and 38 C.F.R. Part 3 and Part 20. Those review-lane statutes are named here as the ordinary framework; they are not re-quoted in this post.

Current Diagnostic Code 6260 will not decide a case that has no diagnosis, no nexus, or a file that does not meet the line being applied. The 2022 proposal will not decide a case that is being rated today. H.R. 9237 will not decide a case while it remains a bill with postponed House proceedings. Treating those three authorities as if they were interchangeable is how a claim gets argued to the wrong text.

This firm does not tell a veteran that a 10 percent evaluation is assured because tinnitus appears in the medical record. It does not tell a veteran that a rating will be kept if the veteran retains counsel, or lost if the veteran does not. It does not invent a dollar figure, a grant rate, or a testimonial. The work is to read the file against 38 C.F.R. § 4.87, Diagnostic Code 6260, and the rest of title 38, and to put the veteran in the review posture the statute actually provides.

If VA has already assigned a tinnitus evaluation, the next step is not a speech about a proposed rule. It is a decision review: whether the assigned percentage matches the criteria quoted above, whether Note (1) or Note (2) was applied as written, whether the effective date is correct, whether service connection was denied on a ground that the record can answer, and whether the time to elect a review lane is still open. If no claim has been filed, the first question is still the claim—diagnosis, in-service injury or disease or aggravation or secondary theory, and the evidence that makes the schedule applicable—not a prediction about a bill that has not become law.

Disclaimer

This post is general information about veterans disability claims, appeals, and VA benefits. It is not legal advice, not a representation that The Jacks Law Group is your counsel, and not a prediction of any rating, grant, denial, effective date, or payment. No result is promised. Reading this post does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws, regulations, and pending legislation change; the sources listed below were opened on the dates stated and should be re-checked before they are relied on.

Retain this firm

If you have a VA tinnitus claim, a proposed or assigned evaluation under Diagnostic Code 6260, a denial of service connection, or a decision you intend to review, have the file read against the regulation that is actually in force. The Jacks Law Group represents veterans in disability claims and appeals. Call 702-834-6300. Do not wait for a proposed rule or a House bill to become something they are not.

The Jacks Law Group 1057 Whitney Ranch Drive, Suite 350 Henderson, NV 89014 702-834-6300 https://www.TheJacksLawGroup.com

Source list (URLs and date checked)

All of the following were opened or re-opened on Monday, August 17, 2026 (Pacific Time), unless a narrower note appears.

1. 38 C.F.R. § 4.87 (current Diagnostic Code 6260). Legal Information Institute, https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/38/4.87 — opened August 17, 2026. Full DC 6260 criterion and Notes (1)–(3) quoted above. Source note on that page: “[64 FR 25210, May 11, 1999, as amended at 68 FR 25823, May 14, 2003].” Authority line: 38 U.S.C. 1155.

1. 2022 proposed rule (not in effect). “Schedule for Rating Disabilities—Ear, Nose, Throat, and Audiology Disabilities; Special Provisions Regarding Evaluation of Respiratory Conditions; Schedule for Rating Disabilities—Respiratory System,” 87 Fed. Reg. 8474 (Feb. 15, 2022) (RIN 2900–AQ72; ACTION: Proposed rule; comments due April 18, 2022), https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2022-02-15/html/2022-02049.htm — opened August 17, 2026. Preamble discussion of deleting DC 6260 and moving tinnitus into DC 6100 at 87 Fed. Reg. 8480 and 8482; proposed DC 6100 table at 87 Fed. Reg. 8488.

1. 2024 supplemental proposed rule (not a final rule; does not replace DC 6260). “Schedule for Rating Disabilities—Ear, Nose, Throat, and Audiology Disabilities; Special Provisions Regarding Evaluation of Respiratory Conditions; Schedule for Rating Disabilities—Respiratory System,” 89 Fed. Reg. 74162 (Sept. 12, 2024) (RIN 2900–AQ72; ACTION: Supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking), https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-09-12/html/2024-20542.htm — opened August 17, 2026. States that adding DC 6605 for constrictive bronchiolitis “is the only proposal of this SNPRM,” and that comments on the 2022 proposal will be addressed “in the final rulemaking.”

1. H.R. 9237 (bill; not law). Congress.gov bill page, https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/9237 — opened August 17, 2026. Title shown: “H.R.9237 — 119th Congress (2025-2026): Take Care of America's Veterans Act.” Overview fields actually shown: Sponsor Rep. Bost, Mike [R-IL-12] (Introduced 06/10/2026); Committees: House Veterans' Affairs; Armed Services; Latest Action: House — 07/16/2026 POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS — Pursuant to clause 1(c) of rule XIX, the Chair announced further proceedings on H.R. 9237 is postponed. Status tracker shown as Introduced. CRS-style overview line on that page: among other elements, the bill “revises VA disability ratings for sleep apnea and tinnitus.” That line is a summary, not enrolled text.

1. Search for a final rule replacing DC 6260 after 2022. Federal Register / public materials search for a final rule under RIN 2900–AQ72 or otherwise deleting 38 C.F.R. § 4.87 Diagnostic Code 6260 — conducted August 17, 2026. No final rule replacing DC 6260 was found. The 2024 SNPRM (item 3) still referred to a future “final rulemaking.”

1. eCFR current 38 C.F.R. § 4.87. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-38/chapter-I/part-4/subpart-B/section-4.87 — not independently retrieved as a clean current display for this post. Current-text reliance is on item 1.