Back then you would have received a single channel implant. CIs were experimental than, so insurance didn't cover them. Now most insurers do, and Medicare does cover them. It's time for Medicare to cover hearing aids, but it has been a battle. Lots of reasons for that. Cost is one of them. Another relates to all the horror stories we hear about hearing aids and people being 'taken' financially. People getting hearing aids and not using them because 'they don't work'. Do you think the insurance industry trusts the hearing aid industry?