Right now, a Medicare beneficiary faces the sad paradox of being able to see an audiologist to be diagnosed with hearing loss but not to receive hearing aids or any related treatment services. With the current 2022 budget negotiations around Medicare expansion underway, Congress has the rare opportunity to advance common-sense and fiscally-sustainable Medicare benefits that directly help seniors with hearing loss.   Millions of Americans with hearing loss hope Congress listens.

 

Read Cochlear Center opinion pieces, media coverage and policy briefs on Medicare expansion for hearing care and hearing aids, including a new graphic editorial.

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Opinion Pieces and Media Coverage:

• NEW!  Health Affairs, Oct 8, 2021: "Dementia Policy Is A National Priority. That’s Why Congress Needs To Expand Medicare To Cover Hearing Aids"
• The New York Times, Aug 30, 2021: "Will Hearing Aids Ever Be Hip?"
• Stat News First Opinion, Aug 6, 2021: "Making hearing aids affordable isn’t enough. Older adults also need hearing care services"
• JAMA Viewpoint, Oct 2019: Hearing Care Access? Focus on Clinical Services, Not Devices

Policy Briefs:  

• Policy Brief: "Medicare Coverage for Hearing Treatment: Inadequate and Ready for Improvement"
• Policy Brief: "Effective Legislative Proposals for Medicare Hearing Care Coverage: Hearing Care Services Are Essential, Hearing Aids Are Optional"
• Policy Brief: "The Over-The-Counter Hearing Aid Act of 2017:  Increasing the Accessibility and Affordability of Hearing Aids in the U.S."

 

Graphic Narrative - "What do you mean Medicare Doesn't Cover Hearing Aids?"

Illustrator: Ian Sampson

(For best reading experience, view in Full Screen)

 

(For best reading experience, view in full screen)

 

Distributed in partnership with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Hearing Loss Association of America, and the Gerontological Society of America. Thank you!