People Avoid Seeing a Hearing Care Specialist, REASON #2 – The Patient is Not Sure of His or Her Insurance Coverage for the Procedures and Treatments Involved with Hearing Loss

            Regardless of when you read this blog and which administration is running our country, insurance is a complex world to attempt to meddle through, and when it comes to hearing health care coverage, it can be even more murky. BUT… nearly every insurance company I have come across allows for coverage of one hearing evaluation per year by a trained hearing health care specialist (and more testing can be covered if medically necessary, i.e. if the patient notices a significant sudden change in hearing.) A hearing evaluation is often considered “preventative” and, in many cases, does not require a referral from your physician.
            While it is nearly impossible to speak for every patient and every insurance plan, that is intended to help ease the stress of navigating the process of hearing health care coverage. In fact, I believe any reputable hearing health care practice will have a deep understanding of the insurance regulations in its area and will be able to readily answer any questions you may have about your insurance coverage- or at least be willing to help you find the answer.
            In my twenty years of experience in the hearing health care field, I have watched first hand as patient benefits for treatment of hearing loss have evolved- fortunately, in a direction that benefits the patient. Yes, medical treatment of your hearing loss may have an out-of-pocket cost associated with it, but I have seen insurance cover anywhere from 10% to 100% of the costs. And even if you were in the position of having 0% insurance coverage, treating hearing loss can be affordable- and you will learn throughout this book that treating hearing loss is truly priceless and can hardly be assigned a monetary value.