Does Medicare cover hearing aids?

As you get older, odds are you will have some degree of hearing loss. The National Institutes of Health reports that one-quarter of people between 65 and 74 years old and half the people over 75 years old have hearing loss. This not only impacts seniors’ quality of life but it can also be a safety issue if it is not addressed.

Even though so many Medicare beneficiaries experience hearing loss, Original Medicare (Part A and Part B) offers limited coverage for hearing care services and products. While Original Medicare does cover a hearing screen for anyone who has symptoms – hearing loss or ringing in the ears, for instance – it stops short of paying for hearing aids, even after a problem has been diagnosed.

Part B may pay for cochlear transplants for people with hearing loss. These electronic devices can restore hearing by directly stimulating the nerve responsible for hearing, i.e., the cochlear nerve. Interestingly, one of the requirements that must be met to get a cochlear implant is that you have to have tried hearing aids but they were ineffective. It seems somewhat ironic to me that hearing aids are not covered in the first place and cochlear transplants are.

Part A and Part B also do not cover routine hearing screening tests. This could make people delay getting testing when they start to develop symptoms. According to the Hearing Charities of America, many people wait as long as seven years from their first symptoms to the time they get a hearing aid.

So why doesn’t Medicare cover hearing aids? When Medicare was created in the 1960s, hearing aids were “routinely needed and low in cost,” so it was expected that beneficiaries would be able to cover the cost themselves – and hearing aids were statutorily excluded from Medicare coverage. But modern hearing aids cost several thousand dollars, and the Commonwealth Fund notes that three-quarters of Medicare beneficiaries who need hearing aids do not have them.

To add hearing aid coverage to Medicare would require Congress to enact appropriate legislation. Congress has certainly tried. In 2021, the Medicare Hearing Aid Coverage Act was introduced although it did not come to a vote. Later that same year, The Build Back Better Act – which had a provision for Medicare to add hearing aid coverage – passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a majority vote (220-213). Although the measure did not ultimately pass in the Senate, it shows that many legislators are supportive of adding hearing aid coverage (and dental and vision coverage) to Medicare.

Thankfully, there are a number of Medicare Advantage (Medicare Part C) plans that offer some hearing coverage as an extra benefit (coverage that goes beyond what Original Medicare provides).

If this coverage is something you’re interested in, you’ll need to shop for a Medicare Advantage plan that offers the benefit. The good news is that shouldn’t be too hard to find one: In 2022, 95% of Medicare Advantage plans offered coverage for hearing exams and/or hearing aids.

If you want to compare Medicare Advantage plans – or enroll in one – consider “shopping around” during the annual Medicare open enrollment period, which starts October 15 and continues through December 7.

Call 1-844-309-3504 now to learn more about Medicare supplemental benefits with a licensed advisor.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, as many as 22% of plans did not have a cost-sharing requirement for hearing aids in 2019 but 60% of plans had a copay ranging from $5 to $3,355. Medicare Advantage plans that do not require you to pay for hearing aids tend to have a higher maximum out-of-pocket limit for the year. It helps to shop around.

For example, in New Hampshire, there were 36 Medicare Advantage plans available in 2022. Copays range from $0 to $2,095 for hearing aids. Instead of a copay, some plans require plan holders to pay a coinsurance. Instead of a fixed dollar amount, that means you will pay a set percentage of the cost. Some New Hampshire plans had a coinsurance as high as 40%. Many plans list different rates for in-network and out-of-network services.

NOTE: Rates will vary depending on where you live. 

Tanya Feke M.D. is a licensed, board-certified family physician. As a practicing primary care physician and an urgent care physician for nearly ten years, she saw first-hand how Medicare impacted her patients. In recent years, her career path has shifted to consultant work with a focus on utilization review and medical necessity compliance. She currently works as a physician advisor at R1 RCM, Inc., where she performs case reviews for hospitals nationwide.

Dr. Feke is an authority in the field, having Medicare experience on the frontlines with both patients and hospital systems. To educate the public about ongoing issues with the program, she authored Medicare Essentials: A Physician Insider Reveals the Fine Print. She has been frequently referenced as a Medicare expert in the media and is a contributor to multiple online publications. As founder of Diagnosis Life, LLC, she also posts regular content about health and wellness to her site at diagnosislife.com.

Tags: hearing, hearing aids