Audiologist Brian Fligor (MA ICI UCEDD/LEND) Intricately Involved in Massachusetts Requirement for Insurance companies to Cover Hearing Aids for Children
November 8, 2012
Naturally, Lisa Adams was worried when she found out her twin infant sons, Nathan and Paul, were born with moderate hearing loss. She became even more concerned when her children's audiologist, Amal Awdeh, AuD, explained how poor hearing during such a critical time in development could severely impact their budding language skills.
But Adams was quickly comforted when Awdeh explained how far hearing aid technology had come in recent years-with the right equipment, medical and educational teams supporting them-the twins' speech would most likely develop just fine.
Paul and Nathan were fitted with hearing aids on loan from Boston Children's Hospital, a practice that allows doctors to find the perfect match of hearing aid to patient before anything permanent is obtained and fitted.
After a year Paul and Nathan's growth was consistent, and doctors were pleased with the progress they were making with the loaner aids, so Adams took her sons to be fitted for their own hearing aids. The visit went well, right up until it was time to process payment.
"We were ready to leave when the woman behind the desk asked for my credit card," remembers Adams. "I gave her my insurance card assuming she misspoke. Unfortunately, she hadn't."
It was then that Adams first learned that most Massachusetts insurance providers didn't cover hearing aid costs, even for children.
Paul and Nathan's hearing aids cost $2,500 apiece, suddenly leaving Adams and her husband with a $5,000 bill. And considering the average hearing aid only has a shelf life of three to five years, the couple quickly realized they'd be spending that sum every few years, a tremendous added cost for family with three young children. (Nathan and Paul have an older brother Philip, born just 19 months ahead of them.) She was worried not only about the burden buying hearing aids would have her family, but on every family in Massachusetts that had a child with hearing loss.
"Raising young kids is expensive," Lisa says. "Having so many extra costs thrust on you in an instant could be overwhelming for anybody."
But Lisa Adams is not the type of woman to be overwhelmed for long. Rather than accept what she saw as an injustice, the former lawyer began researching states with laws requiring insurance providers to cover hearing aids. She met with lawmakers, medical professionals from Boston Children's and parents. Armed with reams of information Adams helped draft a bill requiring local insurance providers to cover hearing aids.
The team at Boston Children's Audiology Program, which treats the children of all the coalition members, provided invaluable help throughout the process. Aside from emotional support, the team presented data at the State House proving that children with untreated hearing loss cost school districts thousands of dollars a year in support services, and identified the ways untreated hearing loss negatively impacts quality of life for children.
Brian Fligor, ScD, Director of theDiagnostic Audiology Program at Boston Children's Otolaryngology and Communication Enhancement Department, even simulated the hearing loss, and benefit from using hearing aids, for five of the children of MassHAFCC parents -Paul, Nathan, and three children of Coalition member Michelle Dardeno-which he played for lawmakers to demonstrate how the children's hearing is affected when they don't have access to hearing aids.
