2022 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Virtual Conference
March 13 - 15, 2022
3/05/2019 | 10:15 AM - 10:40 AM | Assessing Availability of Hearing Aid Services Under Iowa Medicaid | Narita A/B
Assessing Availability of Hearing Aid Services Under Iowa Medicaid
Medicaid is a health insurance program that covers 45% of children under the age of six in the United States, funded jointly by state and federal governments. Hearing aids are a covered benefit for children enrolled in Medicaid, thanks to the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment provisions required in all Medicaid programs. However, coverage for hearing aids won’t necessarily result in timely fitting, device counseling, and early benefit if providers choose to leave Medicaid programs or limit their services to exclude fitting of hearing aids. This project examines inaccuracies in the Iowa Medicaid provider directories and quantifies statewide coverage specifically for hearing aids and hearing aid services. Iowa’s online Medicaid provider directories were compiled for traditional Medicaid and Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCO’s; private companies selected by states to act as Medicaid administrators) and providers were contacted individually to assess if he or she continues to provide diagnostic audiology services, hearing aid services, or both. Statewide coverage was assured through repeated queries in overlapping 100 mile radius areas. Additionally, Medicaid and MCOs were asked directly for characterization of how many unique audiology providers are actively billing for these services to provide objective verification of the information offered by individual providers. These results will be presented along with information from a QI project regarding the Wendell Johnson Speech and Hearing Center at the University of Iowa in order to highlight how Medicaid services can become concentrated when providers leave the program, and result in lengthy travel times for hearing aid patients with Medicaid insurance coverage.
- Recognize the important role that Medicaid programs play in the health of children in the United States and how programs are funded.
- Explain how and why hearing aids are a required benefit for children under Medicaid programs.
- Discuss how program effectiveness is impacted when providers do not participate in the program, including regional coverage gaps.
Presentation:
18878_10279CaitlinSapp.pdf
Handouts:
Handout is not Available
Transcripts:
18878_10279CaitlinSapp.docx
Presenters/Authors
Caitlin Sapp
(), University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, caitlin.sapp@unchealth.unc.edu;
Dr. Sapp is the head of Pediatric Audiology at UNC Medical Center in Chapel Hill, NC, and the director of the Early Hearing Loss Lab. Her research interests include examining the factors that improve language and social outcomes for children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing, in particular malleable clinical factors like parent counseling.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -