Hearing Aid Insurance Poll

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. 
  • 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. 

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.

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.   

dmnd-rd.gif (997 bytes)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. 

Lost your way?  Try the Listen-Up Web Map or use our Search Engine.

The "Listen Up!" and "Talk It Up!" programs are copyright protected. All rights including the use of the "Listen Up!" and "Talk It Up!" logos are reserved.