Does Insurance Cover Hearing Aids? Medicare Advantage, UnitedHealthcare and More

You have Medicare, or a work plan, and you are starting to wonder if it pays for hearing aids. The honest answer is: maybe, and the details matter a lot. Two people with the same insurance company can have very different hearing benefits. Here is how it works, and how to find out what yours covers.

Original Medicare does not cover hearing aids

Original Medicare (Part A and Part B) does not pay for hearing aids or for fitting them. Part B can cover a diagnostic hearing exam when a doctor orders it for a medical reason. That is the whole story for Original Medicare. A Medigap supplement plan does not add a hearing aid benefit either, because it only fills gaps in what Medicare already covers.

Many Medicare Advantage plans do

Medicare Advantage (Part C) plans are sold by private insurers, and many of them add hearing benefits that Original Medicare does not have. Common examples are a yearly routine hearing exam and an allowance toward hearing aids every one to three years.

The catch is in how the benefit is run. Many plans hand their hearing benefit to a separate hearing benefit company. Then the plan may only pay if you use a provider in that company's network, or it may only cover certain devices at set prices. Some plans pay a fixed dollar amount you can use anywhere. Some cover a lot. Some cover very little.

UnitedHealthcare plans

UnitedHealthcare is one of the largest Medicare Advantage carriers in Texas, so we hear this question often. Many UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans include a hearing aid benefit, and many of them run it through UnitedHealthcare Hearing, their own hearing benefit program. What you get, and where you can use it, depends on your exact plan. UnitedHealthcare employer and individual plans are different again. Some include a hearing aid allowance and some do not.

The fastest way to know is to look at your plan's Evidence of Coverage, or call the member services number on the back of your card and ask three questions:

• What is my hearing aid benefit, in dollars or in devices?
• How often can I use it?
• Do I have to use a certain network or provider to get it?

Other ways people pay for hearing aids

• Work and federal plans. Some commercial plans include a hearing aid benefit. Our hearing aid cost page covers Blue Cross Blue Shield and the Federal Employee Program in detail.
• HSA and FSA accounts. Hearing aids, batteries and hearing care are qualified medical expenses, so you can pay with pre-tax money from a health savings account or flexible spending account.
• Veterans. If you are a veteran, check with the VA first. Many veterans can get hearing aids through VA health care.
• Financing. When coverage does not pay for all of it, or you want a different technology level than your plan covers, we offer monthly payment options.

How we help you sort it out

Insurance plans change every year, and hearing benefits are some of the hardest to read. Call us before your visit, or bring your insurance card, and we will check your benefits and show you what your cost would look like before you decide anything. If your plan only pays through a network we are not part of, we will tell you that plainly so you can choose what makes sense for you.

Your first hearing evaluation with us is free whatever insurance you have, so cost is never a reason to put off finding out where your hearing stands. Book a free hearing test at our Wichita Falls office or call 940-264-4327.