As facts about negative impacts of hearing loss on senior health start to drip into public consciousness, we can expect to see more Medicare supplement plans from private insurers offering hearing aid coverage. The latest is Blue Shield of California, which features copays as low as $499 for high-quality hearing aids in several of its Medicare plans.
Blue Shield 65 Plus HMO Medicare plans for seniors in five Southern California counties will now provide a routine hearing exam at no cost and access to Vista brand hearing aids for copays of either $499 for a mid-level Vista 610 hearing aid or $799 for a premium-level Vista 810 hearing aid.
The low copays represent savings of more than $1,000 per hearing aid off suggested retail prices, putting hearing assistance within the budgets of more seniors who sign up for the supplemental plans.
Health insurance companies have largely failed to cover hearing aids, deeming them medically unnecessary and too expensive. But now there are at least three reasons insurers have been adding hearing-health coverage to their Medicare supplement plans:
- Profit: Medicare supplement plans have become a growing source of revenue and a principal source of profit for private insurance companies. That makes for competition that gives insurers an incentive to add extras such as hearing care to make their plans more attractive.
- More affordable options: Digital hearing aids have started to follow the “faster, less expensive, more functional” downward curve of other consumer electronics products and are finally breaking through price thresholds that make them attractive to more consumers.
- Senior health: There is a growing awareness that hearing loss can have a severe impact on the health and well-being of seniors. Dr. Frank Lin’s groundbreaking research at Johns Hopkins University has linked hearing loss to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. He has flagged proper fitting of hearing aids as an effective intervention, and the medical community and insurers are starting to respond.
“Expanding our coverage to include things like hearing aid tests and hearing aids can make a big difference in a member’s quality of life,” said Terry Gilliland, M.D., senior vice president and chief health officer.
Blue Shield isn’t alone in offering more hearing-health benefits. United Healthcare Group, the nation’s largest insurer, started its hi HealthInnovations subsidiary nearly a decade ago to offer support for hearing-aid purchases in some of its plans. By leveraging high expected volumes, Hi HealthInnovations sells more affordable hearing aids to consumers as well as to health plan members, many of whom United Health also partially insures.
raymos says
It’s a step in the right direction. Who makes the Vista hearing aid? The other to ask is, is this hearing aid worth the price or are there are better alternatives to purchase the equivalent at better prices without the insurance?
Kaiser California offers a $300 credit per hearing aid for “senior plus” members but then you have to buy them from their own vendor that sell hearing aids at ridiculous expensive prices.