Cochlear Hearing Implants Cost-Effective

August 17, 2000 - 0:0
CHICAGO Most medical insurers will not pay for electronic hearing implants for deaf children even though the devices improve children's lives and save money in the long run, researchers said on Tuesday.
An estimated 200,000 American children could benefit from cochlear implants, which are surgically implanted in the ear and interpret sounds that hearing aids cannot detect, but two-thirds of managed care plans refuse to pay the $60,000 cost, said the report published in this week's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
"Many health care plans cite no timely cost-effectiveness data' as a barrier to reimbursement for the device," John Niparko of Johns Hopkins University wrote in the report that summarized research into how cost effective the devices are.
A child provided with the implant saves society more than $53,000 by requiring fewer special education services and having a higher income potential, the report said.
Medical interventions to improve patients' quality of life usually entail much higher ancillary costs, and the researchers said they were surprised to find that the cochlear implant reduced long-term costs, said study coauthor Neil Powe of Johns Hopkins.
Unlike conventional hearing aids placed in the ear that amplify sound, the cochlear implant is surgically implanted in the cochlea, the shell-shaped part of the inner ear, and transmits information electrically to the cochlea's nerves.
Children with congenital or acquired deafness equipped with the implant can hear loud and soft tones and distinguish words.
The implants were approved for use in 1992 to aid deaf children who could not be helped by conventional hearing aids.
The study measured the quality of life and economic benefits of the device against its direct and indirect costs, such as surgery, rehabilitation, maintenance and travel to and from the medical institution.
The study shows "that (the device) is not merely money down the drain, but it is money very well spent both at the individual and societal levels," study coauthor Howard Francis of Johns Hopkins said in a phone interview.
(Reuter)