Hear Ontario—a Canada-based coalition of hearing aid manufacturers and hearing health professionals focused on the quality of hearing aids provided by the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board (WSIB)—launched their #HelpOntarioHear campaign, the coalition announced. The campaign encourages Ontarians from every walk of life to contact their Members of Provincial Parliament (MPP) regarding a recent WSIB decision to restrict hearing aid options for injured workers.
As part of its mandate, the WSIB covers the cost of hearing aids for workers that have damaged their hearing on the job. As Hear Ontario reports, the WSIB is now cutting their coverage to devices made by just three manufacturers, massively reducing the number of devices available to injured workers. Different devices work best for different people. The coalition believes that the selection of hearing devices should be made by a hearing healthcare professional and their patient—not made by a government looking to save a few bucks.
Worse, the top-quality hearing aids that WSIB has been supplying workers for years have been excluded from the list as well, according to Hear Ontario. Injured workers are reportedly no longer able to replace their hearing aids with the devices that work best for them.
Believing that this action is totally unacceptable, the coalition is calling on the WSIB to reverse their decision, and encourages all Ontarians to reach out to their MPP through the campaign website here to voice their concerns.
Source: Hear Ontario
