So wigs are considered medically necessary but hearing aids are not?

[golfgal]

We just got our new plan documents for our new health plan (coverage changes Dec 1st). I was reading through the coverages and they will pay for wigs but not hearing aids I asked our insurance company many years ago why hearing aids are not covered. They said that they are considered a "quality of life issues" vs "medically necessary". Viagra is covered too

 

[Princess Nancy]

My child wears Hearing Aids and this annoys me to no end.

I also noticed that Birth Control and Gastric Bypass is covered!

UGH!

It makes me soooo mad that Hearing Aids are not covered. I guess they go with eyeglasses and thus vision care. But I cannot get Hearing aid insurance like you can get Vision!

 

[golfgal]

My child wears Hearing Aids and this annoys me to no end.

I also noticed that Birth Control and Gastric Bypass is covered!

UGH!

It makes me soooo mad that Hearing Aids are not covered. I guess they go with eyeglasses and thus vision care. But I cannot get Hearing aid insurance like you can get Vision!

Our plan does cover one aid per ear every other year for kids 18 and under. I just got new hearing aids to the tune of $6000, not a penny covered by insurance . (I haven't actually picked them up yet because we had a snow storm but sometime this week I will get them).

 

[Disneyland1084]

Wigs?? You've got to be kidding me. Medical insurance frustrates me to no end. I had brain surgery two weeks ago and my insurance tried to get out of paying for it. There was some stupid pre-existing clause when I switched coverage. I fought with them for 45 minutes straight while my stomach was turning. Thankfully, I got everything taken care of in my favor.


P.S. I do realize at times wigs can be medically necessary.

 

[imabrat]

I wear hearing aids too, as a result of hearing loss due to chemotherapy drugs. My insurance company wouldn't cover the hearing aids because my hearing loss was "voluntary". What they meant was I "chose" to take chemotherapy drugs that had a chance of me losing hearing in order to save my life. So basically, I could either save my life with chemo and lose part of my hearing, or die from cancer but still have my hearing. Yet, they covered for part of the cost of my wig when I first lost my hair.

What a load of bull!

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

What a load of bull!

Just to be clear, the insurance company paid a fortune - far more than you will ever pay in premiums - for drugs and therapies that saved your life, and the thing that sticks with you is that they didn't pay a few thousand dollars for your hearing aids?

Why aren't you guys upset at the price of hearing aids?

 

[golfgal]

Just to be clear, the insurance company paid a fortune - far more than you will ever pay in premiums - for drugs and therapies that saved your life, and the thing that sticks with you is that they didn't pay a few thousand dollars for your hearing aids?

Why aren't you guys upset at the price of hearing aids?

 

[kirstenb1]

Don't even get me started on health insurance. One company coded dd's speech therapy under "mental health" benefits, so she only got 20 visits per year before we had to pay 100% out of pocket the other 32 weeks of the year. I do think hearing aids should be covered.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

So how do they expect hard of hearing folks to hear this dumb explanation over the phone.

The wigs I get--for what it's worth...those....ummm...medications...are there due to ummm...well...can't say it.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Just to be clear, the insurance company paid a fortune - far more than you will ever pay in premiums - for drugs and therapies that saved your life, and the thing that sticks with you is that they didn't pay a few thousand dollars for your hearing aids?

Why aren't you guys upset at the price of hearing aids?

How is VIAGRA, lifesaving? Explain that one!

Hearing aids are pricy...but there would be a reason. Unless you know how to make them using scraps from inside your home.

 

[golfgal]

Don't even get me started on health insurance. One company coded dd's speech therapy under "mental health" benefits, so she only got 20 visits per year before we had to pay 100% out of pocket the other 32 weeks of the year. I do think hearing aids should be covered.

Coding issues happen, did you get it recoded? Also, the codes come from your provider, NOT the insurance company so you need to have the clinic fix this for you.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

How is VIAGRA, lifesaving? Explain that one!

I think that the OP is right - the health insurance companies should drop stuff like this, too.

Hearing aids are pricy...but there would be a reason. Unless you know how to make them using scraps from inside your home.

So companies that make hearing aids are allowed to make a profit, but not insurance companies?

 

[Holly]

I think that the OP is right - the health insurance companies should drop stuff like this, too.
So companies that make hearing aids are allowed to make a profit, but not insurance companies?

I don't think anyone has an issue with them making a profit, but to cover Viagra but not hearing aids seems a little outrageous.

I had no idea and I find it a bit shocking.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

Why aren't you guys upset at the price of hearing aids?

I gotta agree with this. Insurance companies are always painted as the bad guy, but what about the companies that are charging obnoxious amounts for stuff in the first place?

I get what the OP and others are saying... but some of the blame lies outside of the insurance companies.

 

[golfgal]

I think that the OP is right - the health insurance companies should drop stuff like this, too.
So companies that make hearing aids are allowed to make a profit, but not insurance companies?

Actually, in MN, no insurance companies are NOT allowed to make a profit-by law they are not-for-profit entities. That doesn't mean they don't make MONEY, but they have to not show a profit by the end of the fiscal year (which means their employees are paid very well).

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

I don't think anyone has an issue with them making a profit, but to cover Viagra but not hearing aids seems a little outrageous.

The American health-care system is horribly broken. I just don't see hearing aids as "health-care" any more than Viagra. They should both be taken off the "list", IMO.

One of the huge problems with the cost of our health-care system is the expectation that it cover EVERYTHING. Private companies don't work that way. They have to make a profit to exist.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

Actually, in MN, no insurance companies are NOT allowed to make a profit-by law they are not-for-profit entities. That doesn't mean they don't make MONEY, but they have to not show a profit by the end of the fiscal year (which means their employees are paid very well).

How is that working out? Keeping insurance prices under control? Keeping anything under control?

I feel for the plight of anyone who has a legitimate need for anything and does not have the funds to cover it (food, shelter, medical care, hearing aids, etc). I just think that we need to look for the culprit somewhere other than the insurance companies.

 

[golfgal]

How is that working out? Keeping insurance prices under control? Keeping anything under control?

I feel for the plight of anyone who has a legitimate need for anything and does not have the funds to cover it (food, shelter, medical care, hearing aids, etc). I just think that we need to look for the culprit somewhere other than the insurance companies.

Better than any other state in the union as a matter of fact. Look back at any post here about health care premiums/coverage and you will find that MN has the lowest premiums with the best coverages around. Most of what other states will be seeing in the new health care reform, MN has had for decades. Someone on another thread posted that he and his 3 kids were on a plan in Oregon similar to one we had in MN, the plan for the 4 of them cost $900/month, ours was $577/month for 5 people-with better overall coverage. When a company can make decisions in the best interest of their policy holders vs their shareholders, it makes a world of difference. The highest paid CEO in MN (and one of the highest in the nation) heads up one of the major health coverage systems in the state too.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I think that the OP is right - the health insurance companies should drop stuff like this, too.
So companies that make hearing aids are allowed to make a profit, but not insurance companies?

I'm sorry--I missed the part where I mentioned profits? That seems to always come up.

Are hearing aids something that gets replaced so often that insurance companies can't help out with some of the cost?

I'm curious of what everyone's litmus for insurance coverage should be...that it only covers things that may kill you? Cover illnesses that make you out of commission to society? Cover the cast for the foot, but not the crutches to help you be mobile?

I just don't get it. But a wig would be much less needed than a hearing aid. Unless the world learns ASL--a person whose hearing can be assisted to a decent level is going to have problems functioning that will impair their ability to work. A person can function without a wig--if we were going to go to semantics over providing things that only fix function that is necessary to life.

Why pay my medical bills for my present shoulder ailment when I can just take ibuprofen at my expense? Why have anything more than catastrophic medical?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

How is that working out? Keeping insurance prices under control? Keeping anything under control?

I feel for the plight of anyone who has a legitimate need for anything and does not have the funds to cover it (food, shelter, medical care, hearing aids, etc). I just think that we need to look for the culprit somewhere other than the insurance companies.

The culprit of the person whom you quoted originally was their lifesaving chemotherapy.

If the insurance is to pay to save their life, they should help with the side effects caused by that, no?

It isn't like they aged and lost their hearing. They are being treated for cancer--and now have a condition that could keep them unemployed without the hearing aid. So your solution is to feel sorry for them, feel their plight, but then essentially imply they suck it up and deal b/c the insurance companies shouldn't pay for such things.


I just don't get it.