Chapter 12
From ADA Wiki
ADA Cookbook Chapter 12, How To Help Patients Find Funding For Hearing Aids and Assistive Listening Device Purchases
Original Author: Carol Clifford, MA, CCC-A
1. If your patient is employed, and has hearing aids, their employer is obligated under the American Disabilities Act (ADA) to obtain whatever ALD’s are necessary to allow your patient access to the job.
2. Any patient that attends a college/university which receives federal funds is obligated under ADA to obtain whatever ALD’s are necessary to allow your patient access to an education. (section 504)
3. Any facility receiving federal funds must provide accessibility for it’s patrons. (section 504)
4. According to PL94-142, if assistive devices are written into the individual educational plan (IEL), the school is responsible for obtaining these items for the child. The best way to make this happen is for the audiologist (regardless of the practice setting) to be part of the IEP team – ask to be involved on your patient’s behalf.
5. In cases of public assistance (Medicaid, public aid) ALD’s can be ordered only if life threatening (e.g. can’t hear the baby cry.)
6. Contact the Vocational Rehabilitation counselor in your area. Building this relationship is critical to obtaining funds for your patients. Many audiologist’s experiences have been that close working relationships with individual VR counselors is the best way to be remembered or place you in a position to ask for special assistance. Many VR counselors for the hearing impaired are in fact themselves hearing impaired; bring them to your office to demonstrate new technology.
7. Through assertive action on the part of audiologists, some companies have purchased hearing aids when they would not otherwise. The reported experience has been that this is easier if the company "self-insures" its employees. This is best done by writing a letter requesting benefits, or an upgrade of benefits (from monaural to binaural or from conventional technology to programmable technology). In this letter you should highlight the following:
- why this particular amplification is important, such as the ripple effect which can be expected on the patient’s life. If you are seeking benefits for a child, discuss the educational, psychological, social and speech/language consequences of not providing this particular amplification. - Test the patient at 30dBnHL with their old hearing aids and the new hearing aids; do this at a +10dB signal to noise ratio, or less if possible. This is particularly helpful demonstrating the benefit of these new aids in a school or noise environment.
