Listing 2.11: Bilateral Hearing Loss, Cochlear Implants, and 12-Month Wait

Direct Answer

No — the claimant's pre-implantation audiometric values (45 dB average pure tone threshold and 50% WRS in the better ear) do not satisfy Listing 2.11, and those values are not the operative criteria once a cochlear implant is in place. Listing 2.11 displaces Listing 2.10 for hearing loss treated with cochlear implantation and sets its own disability framework: automatic disability for one year after implantation, followed by a HINT-based word recognition standard thereafter [1]. The 50% WRS figure, even if it would have been relevant under Listing 2.10B's 40%-or-less threshold, was presumably measured with monosyllabic words — not the HINT — and therefore cannot substitute for the 2.11B criterion [1], [2].

Analysis

Listing 2.11 governs because the claimant has a cochlear implant

Listing 2.11 is captioned "Hearing loss treated with cochlear implantation" and provides two pathways:

• 2.11A: "Consider under a disability for 1 year after initial implantation."
• 2.11B: "If more than 1 year after initial implantation, a word recognition score of 60 percent or less determined using the HINT (see 2.00B3b)." [1]

Because the claimant uses a cochlear implant, Listing 2.10 — which applies to hearing loss "not treated with cochlear implantation" — is not the applicable listing [2]. The 45 dB / 50% WRS figures cannot be evaluated under 2.10A or 2.10B in this case.

The pre-implant audiometric numbers do not map onto Listing 2.11

Even hypothetically, the claimant's values would fall short of Listing 2.10:

• 2.10A requires an average air conduction threshold of 90 dB or greater in the better ear and bone conduction of 60 dB or greater — the claimant's 45 dB is well below this [2].
• 2.10B requires a WRS of 40 percent or less using phonetically balanced monosyllabic words — the claimant's 50% exceeds this ceiling [2].

More fundamentally, however, Listing 2.11 does not incorporate the 2.10 thresholds at all. It creates an independent standard focused on (1) the passage of time after implantation and (2) post-implantation HINT performance [1].

The 12-month waiting period under 2.11B

The one-year framework operates as follows:

1. First year post-implantation (2.11A): The claimant is "consider[ed] under a disability" regardless of audiometric outcomes [1]. No HINT testing or other word recognition measurement is required during this period.

1. After one year (2.11B): Disability turns on whether the claimant has "a word recognition score of 60 percent or less determined using the HINT" [1]. The regulation specifically identifies the HINT (Hearing in Noise Test) as the required instrument, cross-referencing 2.00B3b [1]. A pre-implant WRS of 50% measured with monosyllabic word lists does not satisfy this criterion because it was not obtained using the HINT and was not measured post-implantation.

Practical consequence

• If the claimant is within one year of initial implantation, Listing 2.11A is met and the claimant is disabled for that period [1].
• If more than one year has elapsed since implantation, the claimant must produce a HINT score of 60% or worse to meet 2.11B [1]. Without that evidence, the listing is not satisfied, and the claim should proceed to RFC assessment and the medical-vocational rules [14].

Key Points

• Listing 2.11, not 2.10, controls once a cochlear implant is in place [1], [2].
• Pre-implant pure tone averages and WRS figures are not the criteria under 2.11; the listing resets the evidentiary framework [1].
• 2.11A grants automatic disability for one year after implantation, requiring no audiometric proof [1].
• 2.11B requires, after that year, a HINT word recognition score of 60% or less — a test-specific requirement that a 50% monosyllabic WRS cannot satisfy [1].
• The claimant's 45 dB average and 50% WRS would not have met Listing 2.10 in any event, since 2.10A requires 90 dB air conduction and 2.10B requires WRS of 40% or less [2].

A follow-up could explore what post-implant HINT evidence and vocational factors would be needed to sustain a disability finding after the 2.11A window closes.