HELP ADVANCE HEARING HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE IN UTAH: Join the Coalition Launch on Tuesday, April 17 (6:00-8:00 pm)

[Norm Paxton]

Forwarding this call for advocacy from Cochlear for insurance coverage.

You may find this interesting.

-Norm

"The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things that you do for others remain as your legacy."
  -Kalu Iche Kalu, humanitarian volunteer, Aba Nigeria

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Dear Utah Advocates:

Six years ago, advocates in Utah joined together to address the lack of health insurance coverage for cochlear implants for those who needed them.  Recall at that time, both children and adults who were appropriate candidates were unable to access CIs.  Our efforts were successful and now cochlear implants are covered by most insurers operating in the state.  

Now we have a new challenge to address.  Auditory osseointegrated implants (sometimes called bone anchored implants) provide access to sensitive hearing for children and adults with conductive and mixed hearing loss as well as those with single-sided deafness.  For children who are too young for the surgery, there is the option to wear a sound processor on a softband until they are ready for the surgery.  This type of auditory implant is currently covered by Medicare, Medicaid and most large private health insurers in the United States--with the exception of Utah.

Clinicians, educators, consumers, parents and others have expressed interest in working together once again to advocate for hearing health access for those who need this hearing implant.  We are  holding an organizational meeting on Tuesday, April 17 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.  We will serve a light dinner (pizza!) to facilitate your being able to attend on a week night.  There will be captioning provided to ensure communication access.

 The meeting location is:

The Sanderson Center (Division of Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing)
5709 S 1500 West
Taylorsville, Utah  

The program will include an introduction to the technology and a discussion of our plan going forward.  We will hear from several Utah citizens who need this type of auditory implant but have been unable to obtain it because of the lack of private insurance coverage in the state.

We would like to have a large group of people with us on April 17 to provide a strong start to the effort.   Please do two things to help us be successful:

1.  RSVP (to me) to let us know if you are coming (and please do come!)

2.  Share this email with others who may be interested in joining us.  For those of you who are active in Utah organizations for parents, adults and professionals, please forward this email to your membership to help get the word out.  Please also encourage friends, family members and colleagues to attend.

Thank you so much and see you on the 17th of April.

Best regards,

Donna L. Sorkin
Vice President, Consumer Affairs
Cochlear Americas
ph:  703-534-6146
fax: 703-534-6172
==============================================