The team has spent more than 1,000 hours researching, testing, and reviewing popular hearing aids on behalf of readers. AgingInPlace recently surveyed hearing aid users to understand their top device choices, the factors influencing their purchases, their purchasing process, and how they feel about their hearing loss and hearing aids.
While provider participation in managed care remains optional, managed care is now an integral part of US healthcare, and hearing care as a supplemental benefit continues to grow in private and public health plans. Part 1 (published in September) of this 3-part series was a primer on health insurance and managed care. In Part 2, we investigate the recent growth of managed care and the expansion of supplemental benefits such as dental, vision, and hearing care and common perceptions and criticisms of managed care among hearing healthcare providers.
There were several audiology-related provisions included in the Act, which include Medicare payments and billing.
In 2020, there will be an increase of 414 plans for consumers to choose from, an average of 28 plans to choose from for the average consumer. The number of Special Needs Plans will increase from 717 to 855 from 2019-2020.
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Many Medicare Advantage plans include benefits for services that Medicare doesn’t cover, including eye exams, preventive dental care, and hearing coverage.
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UnitedHealthcare Hearing brings together EPIC Hearing Healthcare, a provider of hearing health benefits, and hi HealthInnovations, a home-delivery hearing healthcare company.
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According to the report, the newest version of the Apple Watch—which retails for $399—includes features like fall detection and an electrocardiogram (ECG) sensor which can help detect irregular heart rhythm. Insurers are looking to subsidize the cost—which may be unaffordable for some senior Medicare patients—as a preventative strategy to detect potentially expensive health problems before they worsen.
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Compared to the patients without hearing loss, patients with the condition generated nearly 26% more in total health care costs within two years, a gap that widened to 46% by 10 years, amounting to $22,434 per individual ($20,403 incurred by the health plan, $2,030 by the individual in out-of-pocket costs).
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In the new paper in “JAMA Otolaryngology—Head & Neck Surgery,” a team from the University of Michigan analyzed data from 1,336 adults ages 65 to 85 who reported severe hearing loss.
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The hearing healthcare landscape is changing, but there are several ways to not only survive but thrive in this new age including Medicare Advantage programs and constantly improving direct-to-consumer hearing devices. Part 1 looks at practical pathways for shifting to a fee-for-service (unbundled) business model.
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Managed care continues to pose challenges and opportunities for hearing healthcare professionals. In 2017, the number of individual Medicare Advantage enrollees enrolled in a plan with a hearing aid benefit increased to 65% from only 47% in 2015. This article presents a perspective on the evolution of managed care and how dispensing professionals can evolve and adapt in these changing times.
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People with Medicare may select these plans during the 2018 Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plan Annual Enrollment Period, or AEP, which runs October 15 through December 7, 2017.
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