BW3YCJlmyOI, I-Team: More People Eligible for Discounted Hearing Aids, by Dana Fowle
Aired Feb. 14, 2018
ATLANTA, Ga. – Georgia law now requires insurance carriers to cover children’s hearing aids. But this still leaves some children without access to hearing.
If you are lower-income, Medicaid’s net will catch you. But this leaves folks in the middle – those without insurance but not eligible for Medicaid – still struggling to pay to hear.
The average cost of hearings aids is ,300 – times two – so ,600. Then there are the doctor’s appointments, maintenance, repairs, and batteries. Boy, do they do through batteries. There are few families where this doesn’t hurt the wallet, especially for children who break them and who are growing.
For families without private insurance and for those who don’t qualify for Medicaid, the state provides a safety net for hearing aids.
So if your child isn’t insured through private insurance and you don’t qualify for Medicaid where do you go? If you’re caught in the middle here, well, the state has you covered.
The vice chair over at the Public Service Commission says new rules mean more children and adults will have access to hearing aids through the state’s hearing aid distribution program.
The state has increased reimbursement levels for families and increased the number of kids who can be served by the program. It also broadens the things covered beyond what Medicaid offers. Tim Echols says there is no reason every child in the state can’t be served either through private insurance, Medicaid or the extended reimbursement program.
“We want them to be able to read. We want them to be able to have the same experiences as others. The longer you wait on this the more damage and the further behind they get.”
The program is funded through landline telephones. Yep, the old-fashioned home phone. If you still have one there is an 11-cent tax on each line. That money goes to a variety of programs for hearing and sight disabilities. Naturally, with fewer home phones, the money gets tighter. Know that often times the phone company will fold in that service at no extra charge, so even if you don’t think you’ll ever use it, this could be a reason to say ‘yes, I’ll have a home phone.’ Just don’t connect it.
This hearing distribution program isn’t just for children, but adults also. To find out more please contact the Georgia Lions Lighthouse Foundation. They are contracted to distribute the hearings aids for the state.,