I have been diagnosed with "mild to moderate high frequency senorineural hearing loss bilaterally" or in laymans terms permanent hearing loss at higher frequencies. My audiologist recommended Digital Hearing Aids but my insurance denied it saying it wasn't "Medically Necessary" over analog hearing aids.
Has anyone ever had this happen? Any websites / research / journal articles that you can give me will be most greatly appreciated. I am appealing the decision and want to have the most information I can attach with my appeal to overturn the decision.
Thank you so much!
2006-09-26 07:25:36 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ General Health Care ➔ Other - General Health Care
Most insurance companies wrote their payment policies back when analog technology was the only technology available in hearing aids. They have not amended their reimbursal rates to include the newer and more expensive technologies. Oftentimes an insurance company will pay whatever their max coverage is for analog hearing aids and the patient would then be responsible for the retail balance of the instrument. If you are willing to accept the analog technology then you may not have any out of pocket expenses.
That said, it is important to realize that there is a great difference in abilities between analog and digital technology and the prices do range because of this. There are many companies that no longer offer an analog line of products, in favor of the more up to date digital products.
Call you insurance company and find out what they would cover if you did get digital hearing aids and discuss with your audiologist what out of pocket expenses you may have if you do go digital vs analog.
In my opinion digital will give you and your dispenser more flexibility to fine tune and adjust your hearing aid and also give you more of a range of fitting in case your hearing declines over the next several years. This is greatly limited in analog products.
2006-09-26 08:13:54 · answer #1 · answered by melloyellolab2000 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My son is diagnosed the same why...
He had analog hearing aids... we recently got digital.. it's a world of difference for him...
Analog aids will amplifiy those sounds you have trouble hearing.. along with every other sound too. He was forever complaining the his classroom.. or cafeteris.. or any other high noise situation was irritating and/or painful for him..
With his new digital aids he doesn't have these problem.. they are programmed to amplify the sounds he need helps with.. the other sounds are left pretty much alone... He no longer complains.. and often forgets he is wearing his aids..
Your insurance company is denying becasue at this time analog it cheaper. So they aren't gunna pay for more than they have to. You will have to decide if it's worth the expensive to buy them for yourself. If so, maybe the provider offers a pay plan, or offers a credit plan. Does your employer offer a 125 plan? Sometimes it's called a caferteria plan. THis is a medical reimbursement account that takes a pre-tax deduction from your paycheck. At the begining of the account year you estimate what your medical need will be. Then at each payperiod a portion of the total will be deducted form your check. The best best is the money is available to you from day one. SO you could buy your aids and pay back the money each payperiod. If it is availalbe, be careful to correctly estimate you need. Any overestimation is not refundable.
2006-09-26 07:39:26 · answer #2 · answered by limgrn_maria 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Insurance Companies doesn't ever find anything medically necessary when it comes to hearing loss, because they don't understand what a problem this has become. Your appeal will need you to find a real good ENT Doctor that will help you more than any just a audiologist. The type of loss you have will only get worst as you age. I know a person that had the same problem, they now are wearing a Cholera Implant because of no care attitude of a Insurance Co. Keep trying go to all the ENT Specialists and get them to all write you a narrative report, keep fighting that Ins.Co. their cheap and will not budge unless you finally have to get a Atty. to file suit against them.
2006-09-26 07:39:42 · answer #3 · answered by Nicki 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I've had analog hearing aids since I was 11 (I'm 28 now) and they seem to work just fine. I haven't tried a digital one (they're too expensive) so I couldn't compare though. The ones I have currently are though Belltone and they're great. The audiologist can program them right through the computer. Check out Belltone.
2006-09-26 07:35:08 · answer #4 · answered by made_of_spam 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I used to have an analogue hearing aid but recently changed over to two digital hearing aids..after the initial adjustment I am now finding the digital aids quite a bit better than the analogue..I have more sense of direction and can filter out background noise quite effectively..on a day to day basis I now find with the digitals I can mix much for freely...I`m in England and we get these aids supplied free...
2006-09-26 10:05:09 · answer #5 · answered by geordie.lady 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Digital hearing aids offer:
gain processing- which lower the level of environmental sounds and microphone use,
digital feedback reduction - such as the jaw movement,
digital speech enhancement and
directional microphone.
All these features promote greater programmability, precision fitting, management of loudness discomfort, acoustic feedback control and noise reduction.
In a nutshell: comparing an analog to a digital hearing aid is similar to comparing the sound quality of an LP (long playing. vinyl record) with a CD (compact disc).
2006-09-26 07:47:34 · answer #6 · answered by tranquil 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=Digital+versus+Analog+Hearing+Aids&prssweb=Search&ei=UTF-8&fr=slv5-ab-&x=wrt
2006-09-26 07:37:29 · answer #7 · answered by hrytlr 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋