Many Times With Medicare Hearing Aids Are Not Covered
Many Times With Medicare Hearing Aids Are Not Covered
Since the vast majority of people with hearing problems are over the age of 50, they may have a difficult time affording to buy them. Without private insurance coverage for hearing evaluations, even for those on Medicare hearing aids are usually an out of pocket expense, from testing, through fitting to fine tuning. As recently as the year 2000 there was no question that finding Medicare hearing aids approved was highly unusual.
Today, thanks to extensive lobbying by many groups, including the AARP, there has been a shift in think about Medicare hearing aids coverage. For the most part, getting Medicare to pick up even part of the hearing aid tab can be a major struggle and to have Medicare pay the full cost of a hearing aid is rare, yet not impossible. Each individual circumstance should be evaluated by the patient's caseworker before simply plopping down what can be hundreds, if not thousands of dollars for a hearing aid.
Some of the more flexible Medicare hearing aids coverage can be found by those belonging to a Medicare Health Maintenance Organization, or HMO, which function similar to private insurance company's HMOs. The patient chooses a primary caregiver and provided that all medical care is routed through the primary and to other members of the HMO, considerable savings on many medical procedures can be experienced.
Hearing Specialists Belong To Some HMOs
While many of the HMOs include hearing specialists, there fees still may not be covered by Medicare. Hearing evaluations along with fittings and final adjustments to optimize hearing aids for each individual can be costly, with some of the newer digital hearing aids costing around $2,000, for many on Medicare, hearing aids are still an out of pocket expense they cannot afford.
Hearing aids are simply an electronic device that can be picked up at the local store. There should first be an evaluation of the individual needs, based on their ability to hear certain frequencies, then the hearing aid is ordered to the specifications. Once it arrives in the hearing clinic office, it is fine-tuned to meet the individual requirements of the user. Just because in the past for Medicare hearing aids were not even considered does not mean they may not cover them in individual cases.
Find the right hearing aid can take time and the internet may be a good resource for learning about the different types and styles offered by the 20-plus manufacturers offering them, but it may not be the best place to buy one, even though they are cheaper. Even without coverage by Medicare hearing aids should be considered an important part of a person's health and left to a professional who can individualize the care they receive.