How costly is a CI maintenance?...

Audiofuzzy

Audiofuzzy

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Could somebody please give me an approximate $$ figure
how much does it cost per month, or half year, or whatever to maintain your CI?

With hearing aids, all you pay per month is basically just a bit for batteries, or you buy rechargeable and a charger.
Once in a while (half a year to once a year) you make new ear molds.
The new tubes for earmolds are usually free of charge, or cheap.
If you are lucky, the HA won't break for a number of years.
So, all in all it's not very costly.

What it is like with a CI?

Fuzzy
 
hopefully your insurance will pay for most your needs. If not, here are a couple of figures that I know of. Just the processor $700, batteries= two different styles. $150 and $200, I think the wire with magnetic peace cost around $75- $150. I don't remember the cost of the other items, I think it might depend on what style your implant is. I think the items are warrantied for about 2 years. The company we deal with are really good. Customer friendly. Now that the warranty ran out, it seems like my son is harder on the items.
 
with the batteries the guesstimate the company gives is, if you use 4 batteries alternating them they should last about 1 year.
 
For our daughter: Initial cost of surgery and implant/processors & accessories, including batteries & charger/drybox was all covered by health insurance, same with upgrade. The CIs are under warranty for 3 years, and we're upgrading to the latest version this month, so they'll be under warranty for another few years, after that, I expect we'll get either another upgrade under warranty or homeowners insurance will cover any repairs/maintenance.

We've gone 2.5 years now without having to buy batteries (we use the rechargeables and still have most of our original stock of disposables as backup), so no monthly, semi-annual, or annual costs for us as of yet.
 
Grendal what about Mappings? Aren't those expensive?
And it's possible what's covered vs what's not may be due to the differences in insurance companies.
 
We have paid ZERO dollars in the last 18 months. Everything has been covered by insurance or under warranty. We use AB and they only use rechargable batteries, so no cost there. MAPings are covered by insurance, (I have never heard of a parent having to pay for MAPing) and all parts are covered for 3 years under warranty for 3 years, and then insurance will kick in and cover it.
 
Mappings are covered, in fact, we don't even pay a copay for those as we do for our regular doctor visits.

I think the only cost around the CI I've had to date was for the hearing aids we tried initially as part of the process, and the 4 sets of ear molds they required at $120 a shot (she was growing so fast that she outgrew each set a week or two after we'd receive it).
 
OK... so for those who would not have this covered by great insurance, what is the cost?

We have the best insurance available to us through my husband's employer. Even for hearing aids, NOTHING is covered. We are allowed 1 audiogram a year, 50% coverage. Equipment, batteries, fitting, molds, extra testing all comes out of pocket. We have the 3 year warranty, but that only covers the hearing aid. Implantation and everything that goes with it would be the same.

I can imagine with surgical appointments/follow ups, multiple mappings and more expensive equipment, the costs are significantly higher.
 
WeeBeastie said:
OK... so for those who would not have this covered by great insurance, what is the cost?

We have the best insurance available to us through my husband's employer. Even for hearing aids, NOTHING is covered. We are allowed 1 audiogram a year, 50% coverage. Equipment, batteries, fitting, molds, extra testing all comes out of pocket. We have the 3 year warranty, but that only covers the hearing aid. Implantation and everything that goes with it would be the same.

I can imagine with surgical appointments/follow ups, multiple mappings and more expensive equipment, the costs are significantly higher.
Click to expand...

I wish I could tell you, in MA health INS is required, and I believe they all cover CIs equally with one exception: I've heard that some don't cover the backup set of processors. But even with my great insurance I had to pay for pretty much everything involved with Li's hearing aids, from batteries to appts to molds and the aids themselves ( if we had conitinued to use them after the trial period).
 
WeeBeastie said:
OK... so for those who would not have this covered by great insurance, what is the cost?

We have the best insurance available to us through my husband's employer. Even for hearing aids, NOTHING is covered. We are allowed 1 audiogram a year, 50% coverage. Equipment, batteries, fitting, molds, extra testing all comes out of pocket. We have the 3 year warranty, but that only covers the hearing aid. Implantation and everything that goes with it would be the same.

I can imagine with surgical appointments/follow ups, multiple mappings and more expensive equipment, the costs are significantly higher.
Click to expand...

Nope. Nothing was covered for our hearing aids either, but everything was covered for CI's.
 
none of my upgrade processor is covered by insurance
 
A said:
none of my upgrade processor is covered by insurance
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Hi A, did you approach your CI clinic about getting an upgrade or did you order directly from your CI manufacturer? Our hospital drafted up the proposal to our insurance company (basically, a letter stating medical need) and initiated the insurance approval and order process. If I had just decided on my own to order an upgrade without insurance, it would have cost ~$5500 apiece, or $187 / month with their financing.
 
They say it isn't covered. I think it is because I'm an adult.
 
My surgery out of pocket expense was $579. I haven't had to buy batteries in the last 3 years. My insurance will cover 90 percent of the battery cost. Map is $120 a visit. I am down to about 3 times a year, maybe 4. I see my CI surgeon once a year for a checkup.
 
I have had my MedEl CI for over 2 years. No monthy cost for me . ( or any other cost yet ). The rechargeable batteries are still kicking quite well and only cost 99 bucks for 3 new rechargeable batteries.

MedEl have been VERY VERY good to me !!

Thanks MedEl !!!
 
As long as you have insurance, the cost to keep it maintain is no worst than owning a hearing aid. Rechargable batteries do get worst over time.. and your processor will drain your batteries if you have your volume on high. It just mean frequent trips to get a new mapping. for me, it is a three hours drive so getting gas get just to make a trip for a new mapping can be quite expensive. I hated a mapping before, so I had to make another trip on the same week.


you have to pay batteries -rechargable or not- out of your own pocket. I think insurance are nicer to children with CI because they see it a medical need for language development. but for adults, I don't think so. I never could get them to cover batteries, new upgrade processor, etc.
 
A said:
you have to pay batteries -rechargable or not- out of your own pocket. I think insurance are nicer to children with CI because they see it a medical need for language development. but for adults, I don't think so. I never could get them to cover batteries, new upgrade processor, etc.
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Maybe. My hubby wanted to have upgrade processor but insurance won't cover it. so i am wondering if they would cover it if it were my child's. :hmm: I think CI is still more exepensive than HA anyway.
 
We used to have Hearpo insurance. We figured if our health insurance won't cover it, then maybe hearpo would. Hearpo told us that it is medical device, or something like that, and they do not cover it. It's up to health insurance to cover it.
 
Audiofuzzy said:
Could somebody please give me an approximate $$ figure
how much does it cost per month, or half year, or whatever to maintain your CI?

With hearing aids, all you pay per month is basically just a bit for batteries, or you buy rechargeable and a charger.
Once in a while (half a year to once a year) you make new ear molds.
The new tubes for earmolds are usually free of charge, or cheap.
If you are lucky, the HA won't break for a number of years.
So, all in all it's not very costly.

What it is like with a CI?

Fuzzy
Click to expand...
Why you want to know? Are you thinking of getting a CI yourself?
 
A said:
We used to have Hearpo insurance. We figured if our health insurance won't cover it, then maybe hearpo would. Hearpo told us that it is medical device, or something like that, and they do not cover it. It's up to health insurance to cover it.
Click to expand...

It needs to be covered under "durable medical equipment" on your insurance. There is sometimes a cap, or you have to prove medical neccessity by arguing that your hearing would be improved by the upgrade.
 
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