In March of 2001, we conducted an
informal poll to gain more information about insurance coverage of hearing aids
and how it affects those who need them, both adults and children. We felt that
those who are working to get insurance companies to provide better coverage for
hearing aids might be able to use these results as a tool to further their
efforts. We sent out a message to a number of e-mail discussion groups and asked
for responses. Here are the results of this informal poll.
| Children |
Adults |
- Number of children: 96
- Number of hearing aid purchases reported for this poll: 120
- 99% have health insurance.
- Cost covered by a private health insurance plan (Individual and
Corporate): 16% 1
- Cost covered by a Military health insurance plan: 6%
- Cost covered by a public assistance program (Medicaid, Medicare,
Early Intervention, Vocational Rehab, or Other State Assistance
Program): 30%
- Other assistance (Civic Clubs, Charities): 5% 2
- No assistance with costs: 43% 3
- Hearing aids purchase was influenced by out-of-pocket expenses 26% of the time. 4
- 1% are not wearing hearing aids at this time because of the
cost, but funding is being sought.
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- Number of adults: 37
- Number of hearing aid purchases reported for this poll: 43
- 97% have health insurance.
- Cost covered by a private health insurance plan (Individual and
Corporate): 14% 1
- Cost covered by a Military health insurance plan: 5%
- Cost covered by a public assistance program (Medicaid, Medicare,
Early Intervention, Vocational Rehab, or Other State Assistance
Program): 19%
- Other assistance (Civic Clubs, Charities): 0% 2
- No assistance with costs: 63% 3
- Hearing aids purchase was influenced by out-of-pocket expenses
47% of the time. 4
- 11% of adults are doing without hearing aids in one or both ears
because of the cost.
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Children & Adults |
-
Number of children & adults: 133
-
Number of hearing aid purchases reported for this
poll: 163
-
98% have health insurance
- Cost covered by a private health insurance plan (Individual and
Corporate): 15% 1
- Cost covered by a Military health insurance plan: 6%
- Cost covered by a public assistance program (Medicaid, Medicare,
Early Intervention, Vocational Rehab, or Other State Assistance
Program): 27%
- Other assistance (Civic Clubs, Charities): 4% 2
- No assistance with costs: 48% 3
- Hearing aids purchase was influenced by out-of-pocket expenses 31%
of the time. 4
- 4% are doing without hearing aids in one or both ears because
of the cost.
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1
The amount of coverage by insurance companies ranged from 100% to
$267 so in many instances, even though hearing aids were covered under the
insurance policy, out-of-pocket costs were still significant enough to have had
an impact on which hearing aids were purchased.
2 For those who assume that
private organizations will take up the slack when insurance or public
agencies won't cover hearing aids, this is clearly not the case.
3 Some of the strategies
used for paying for hearing aid purchases included putting them on their credit
card, "renting" them from the hospital their child receives services through,
purchasing them through a purchase plan at their clinic, receiving contributions
from extended family members, and convincing their child's school district to cover
the cost.
4 Selection of hearing aids for a child or an adult should be made according to
the appropriateness of a specific hearing aid to a specific hearing loss. We
find it disturbing that such a high percentage of people with hearing loss are
being forced to do with less than the optimal hearing aid for their needs. We
find some consolation in the fact that this percentage is lower for children,
during the critical language learning years. Some who answered that
out-of-pocket expenses did not influence which hearing aids were purchased put
off purchasing the hearing aid for a number of years because of the costs.
Unfortunately, this also happened when children were concerned. One
person reported using a Medical Savings Account, but not being able to get the
hearing aids that would have been the most appropriate for him because the $
limit on this account was lower than the cost of the hearing aids.
Comments included on the Poll:
- Hearing aids profoundly affect the (re)habilitation of the patient. If the
insurance companies were to spend their money wisely, it would cover all
prosthetic devices needed for optimal effective therapeutic intervention and
maximum participation in the mainstream of living. Hearing aids are like
cochlear implants in that regard, i.e., hearing prostheses. Insurance
companies now cover cochlear implants which are far more costly than hearing
aids and these medical implant devices necessitate expensive medical
ramifications such as surgical, hospital, and physician costs. Perhaps if
the companies were to cover hearing aids, regardless of cost, then fewer
families would be rushing into cochlear implant surgery. Without a doubt,
the purchase of the most effective hearing prosthesis for each patient is
the single most important purchase needed for cost-effective treatment that
will have the greatest impact on the person's life.
- I changed not only jobs but careers giving up 3 years of graduate school
education to go back to an industry where I could get health insurance that
covered hearing aids.
- We have had 6 different health insurance policies since diagnosis and none
have paid any portion of hearing aids. I have currently been
researching insurance coverage looking for a job and have reviewed 10
different policies through different hospitals I applied too. NONE of
them cover hearing aids.
- The only reason the health insurance paid for the aids is because we
appealed and appealed a decision not to cover the aids. Letters from every
doctor, therapist, audiologist and early intervention specialist that had
ever seen my child along with data on the importance of getting aids and
therapy early went into an "appeal packet". We went through
several appeal rounds before they paid the whole cost.
- Our son went a very long time--about 3 years--with hearing aids that
provided little or no benefit to him. We didn't have the means to purchase
appropriate aids without the help of insurance. Finally, we got on a payment
plan with the audiologist when my son's hearing aids completely broke down.
- Hearing aids are listed as an exclusion on our insurance. However, now
that my daughter has a diagnosed medical cause necessitating the hearing
aid, we were told that the insurance would cover the cost of re-programming
it. However, they insisted we go to a hospital not certified as programming
her brand of hearing aid. I was uncomfortable with this, and went "out
of plan" and paid myself to have it reprogrammed by a certified group.
- The hearing aids that <name of agency omitted> would pay for weren't
very helpful and for two years she chose to go unaided. Last summer we chose
to take her to a reputable audiologist and paid for new programmable aids
out of pocket. What a difference! She chooses to wear these aids all the
time although she's 14 now....I can only wonder what could have happened if
she'd had better service at an earlier age.
- They did provide hearing aids, but they have a very low dollar limit, $600
per aid, so we had no choices, really, as to the type of quality of the
aids. They certainly will NOT pay for digital aids. Unlike regular
insurance, we could not have them cover up to their limit and pay the
additional cost. Their limit is the total limit, period.
- I investigated over 20 companies and none covered hearing aids, and all
said they would exclude anything related to my daughter's hearing or ears,
including ear infections. I think that if the companies are finally forced
to cover hearing aids, they'll probably start refusing to cover families who
need them.
- I feel that the cost of hearing aids may prohibit some parents from
obtaining the medical intervention that their children need. It was a factor
of major concern to us before we discovered that a medical assistance card
would be available to help our child. We diligently saved, every week, for
the next set of hearing aids, after purchasing her then current ones. Not
every family is able to do this, and it was not easy for us, either.
- My two children have progressive hearing loss which means that they have
to have regular replacements of their hearing aids when they lose more
hearing than their current aid can be adjusted for....One of the most
difficult times we had is when my son had another drop in hearing about 45
days after we purchased him new aids, it was after the 30 day period in
which we could have exchanged the aids for new ones, so we had to pay for
new aids just after having paid for the other ones. Big financial OUCH!
- Hearing aids are not an option and definitely not cosmetic in nature to a
number of people. It is definitely a necessity and a safety item for people
like me ( I do have Usher Syndrome). I would love to purchased new ones and
if it was not for my mother, I wouldn't be wearing anything now.
- At this time this adult has a 17 year old behind-the ear hearing aid that
does not work adequately.
One comment was especially interesting, though I haven't had time to check it
out:
"You might find this interesting about insurance coverage of hearing
aids:
When Missouri passed its newborn hearing screening law, the law included
the provision requiring insurance companies to provide coverage for initial
amplification (hearing aids, for example).
However, even though this sounds good, at the newborn hearing screening
advisory committee meeting the representative from the state department of
insurance explained that the insurance coverage in the bill would apply only
to a small percentage of eligible children.
Self-insured companies are covered by federal law, not state law, so the
Mo. law didn't apply to them.
Also, the laws of the state where the insurance company is chartered apply,
so anyone in Missouri with a policy through an insurance company in another
state would only be covered if that state the company was chartered in
required hearing aid coverage.
So, to be effective, it looks like all states, especially those which have
insurance companies chartered in them, need to have hearing aid coverage, and
also federal law for self-insured companies needs to have hearing aid
coverage."
2 articles have been published about this poll.
- Rhoades, E.A., Hearing Aids for Children: Who Pays?,
Volta Voices, March/April 2002: 5-6 +21.
- Rhoades, E.A. & Powell, K.R., Paying to Hear: An Online
Poll. Hearing Loss, July/August 2002: 23-27.
Resources for People Who Can't Afford Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implants
by Paula Rosenthal, J.D. was written because of the
findings of our
poll.
 If
you haven't already seen it, you may want to visit our
Sources
Of Hearing Aid & Cochlear Implant Funding page
for hints and tips on getting help for paying for these devices.
© 2001 by Listen-Up! Please contact
us for permission to reprint these results.
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