The Issue of Hearing Aids and Medical Insurance Coverage
According to recent surveys, more than 55% of senior citizens do not avail of hearing aids even though the devices have been prescribed to them by their medical specialists simply because they cost too much.
That amount is simply for the device and for the initial tests at the clinic. You’ll still have to pay for the doctor’s professional fee, the medications required, and the accessories needed such as a testing stethoscope and extra batteries. You’ll be spending every month for maintenance and check-ups too.
Unfortunately, hearing aids aren’t covered by standard medical insurances. A cochlear implant or complete-in-the-canal (CIC) hearing aid might be covered by some medical insurance companies because they are prosthetics to help with hearing loss but behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids aren’t.
This means you’d be expected to shoulder all those expenses entirely on your own, in cash or credit.
Another major issue is the fact that there are very few non-profit organizations dedicated to helping people with hearing loss. People without the financial resources to get proper hearing aids are very often forced to shell out the cash entirely on their own. What should be covered in medical insurances isn’t simply because of the definition of a medical prosthetic for disabilities.
It doesn’t look like hearing aids will get any cheaper either. With newer advancements such as hearing aids working in synchronization with iOS devices and remote adjustments it only looks like they will get more expensive. Somehow hearing aids are being treated like luxury gadgets instead of tools for people with mild to extensive hearing disabilities.
The worst part yet is that the hearing aids for children are becoming more expensive than they are for adults. This is partly because children are still growing therefore their hearing aids need to be adjustable to cope with their ears changing size and dimension over the years.
Because of this, over 60% of parents decide to wait until their child has developed even more serious hearing conditions before they consider getting hearing aids. This is a sad statistic because studies have proven that kids getting hearing aids earlier in life develop better speech and language skills.
If you think you need a hearing aid, make sure to get a hearing aid prescription. For more details of our hearing test & assessment, and hearing aid services, please contact HK Hearing & Speech Centre.
Source:
HK Hearing & Speech Centre
Specialist of Hearing test & assessment,
and Hearing Aid Prescription
https://www.hkhearingspeech.com