Hearing Loss: Come introduce yourself and connect with others

HA's are considered a "quality of life" issue and not a medical necessity. No, I do not agree with that but that is the excuse we get. My real theory is that it would bankrupt the system, especially Medicare, if they covered HA's because so many people need them.

As for Cochlear Implants, GO FOR IT!! My CI's are the best thing I have ever done for myself. HA's just do not compare. The short of it is that HA"s just amplify sound where CI's use your ear structure to produce sound the way it is supposed to be made. CI's have given me my life back.

Also, CI's are covered under insurance 🙂

My name is Kathy. I have hearing loss in both ears. Have worn aids for about 30 years. Recently i was told i was a good candidate for cochlear implants. I am 65 I am going to try the full mold aids first.

Without my aids in i am deaf. Which is scary.

My question is can anyone help me understand why aids are not covered insurance?

Thank you so much

You are fortunate to be a candidate for cochlear implants. I was implanted with one CI when I was your age, even though I qualified for 2 then. I am amazed at how well my brain has adjusted to being bimodal (hearing aid and CI). I test extremely well when using both technologies. I've thought seriously about having a 2nd CI, but am told, after extensive testing, that I do too well to qualify since my test results indicate I'm hearing 90+ percent when using both HA & CI. Interestingly, when I remove one technology, it doesn't matter which one, I do poorly. The brain is amazing. I encourage you to go for a CI. Good Luck. PS: Get involved with HLAA If you're not already a member. HLAA advocates for you. If more people would become involved, we just might change the insurance issue.

I recently saw an ENT doctor for my hearing loss. He looked in my ears briefly and said, “You have a serious hearing loss...”. I then asked him about CIs andhe said Iwouldnot need them for 15 or 20 years. How couldhe make that assessment about CIs from just looking in my ears? I have worn hearing aids for 15 years.

@capausz Did your physician have your hearing records? If he did that would have told him how much loss you had. There is no way anything could be told by just examining your ears and not having a hearing test.
JK

@contentandwell, the ENT did not have my hearing records. He looked in my ears, said my hearing loss was serious, and that I had had hearing loss for several years....claimed he could tell by my speech. He had a technician do a very brief hearing test and then sent me right down the hall to his Starkey hearing aid salesperson. I was very disappointed. I expected more from a specialist.

@contentandwell, the ENT did not have my hearing records. He looked in my ears, said my hearing loss was serious, and that I had had hearing loss for several years....claimed he could tell by my speech. He had a technician do a very brief hearing test and then sent me right down the hall to his Starkey hearing aid salesperson. I was very disappointed. I expected more from a specialist.

The HLAA website is hearing loss.org

@mahnrut If you think you may get new hearing aids, wait just a tiny bit longer. I have Oticon Opn1 hearing aids that were a fairly new model when I got them, a bit over two years ago. They were supposed to be a big improvement on clarity for people who had problems with that, and I am one of them. They were better than my previous hearing aids for that function.
They are coming out with a new one though, Opn S, which is supposed to be a 15% improvement on clarity. Since these are not yet even two and half years old, and the cost of hearing aids is so high, I won't be getting new ones yet. I sure wish I could though. If you can wait more than just a tiny bit, I would wait even longer until the audiologists get some experience with this new model. I was one of the first people who my audiologist prescribed the Opn1 for and it was a learning curve for both of us.

I am part of a group on Facebook that is for people with Oticon hearing aids. It's a private group but you can request to be in it, and I don't think they turn anyone down unless they feel it is someone trying to sell something. It is run by people who wear these hearing aids, not professionals, but I guess Oticon is allowed to post there which is how I discovered that they were coming out with a new HA.
JK