Hearing Aid Coverage for Arizona Medicaid: A Model Proposal and Stakeholder Mobilization

Abstract

To date, there are limited resources in Arizona to support low-income adults, aged 22-64,with hearing loss. This is in part because Arizona does not have hearing health coverage through Medicaid. Medicaid is a state and federally funded low-income healthcare coverage plan. To change this, seven students of the doctor-of-audiology program at the University of Arizona, along with nine faculty members, worked on a multi-semester project to study potential paths for the hearing-impaired low-income adult population in Arizona to gain access to hearing healthcare. One subgroup of three students (A. White, B. Crump, and D. Robillard) proposed a model for coverage of hearing services and hearing devices for adults under Medicaid for Arizona called Arizona Healthcare Cost Containment System (AHCCCS). Our model was based on information gathered through a state-by-state comparison covering five categories: diagnosis, follow-up with counseling, hearing aids, replacements/repairs, and aural rehabilitation. The group also proposed an initiative to mobilize stakeholders including primary care physicians, ophthalmologists, and social workers to aid in support for a potential future bill in legislation. The information created from this research project can be used to bring such a bill through legislation to grant AHCCCS hearing-aid coverage for working adults with hearing loss.