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Cost of BAHA processor

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Nancy T:
Hi all. How much did your BAHA processoror cost, and did you have to pay for it, or did your insurance cover it?

My neurotologist's office told me that the processor costs $10,000 via the hospital (because he does the surgery in the hospital and the hospital provides the BAHA hardware--marking it up, of course!).

But on this forum I've seen more in the neighborhood of $4,000.

I'm probably going to try to switch to Kaiser insurance and see if they'll pay for a BAHA. If I have to pay $4000 for the processor, I might go for it, although it would be very difficult for our family financially. But if I have to pay $10,000--no, too much! There are two other neurotologists in town who do the BAHA surgery and maybe they do it in their office and thus avoid the hospital markup.

I am really flailing in the dark here until I get more information and/or go on Kaiser.

Any advice/experiences welcome!

Nancy T.
P.S. I did not have an acoustic neuroma. I had a sudden, severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss in one ear 8 years ago, etiology unknown.

Joef:
Yes the processor cost about 4,000$ (give or take a 1000) .. the surgery is the variable here.... normally it runs about 8-10,000$ ....

most of the time, the surgery is covered under insurance ... the processor is not .. but it is sometimes ... I was a lucky one!, the BAHA surgery was done at the same time as the AN .. so it was just a line item on the same bill .... and was paid....

1wareagle:
Nancy T

     Like Joef, I had my BAHA surgery at the same time as my AN surgery  and the insurance paid it all less my deductable.  I never got a detailed bill from the hospital so I can't help with the exact cost. My insurance does not pay for hearing aids but Dr. Brackmann coded it so they would.

Ellis

Nancy T:
Thanks, Joe and Ellis... it sounds like there is a lot of variation in what is paid for and under what circumstances.

I hate to change insurance (which will cost me $900 a year in lost reimbursement for having other insurance) just on the CHANCE that it will pay for BAHA surgery & possibly also the processor, but it seems there is no way to know for sure whether it will pay until you put in a request as a member. A $900 gamble.

Nancy

dsuvb12:
I haven't got my processor yet and my Dr.'s told me it was about 5,000 dollars and I would have to pay for it out of pocket.  I'm from a very small town so there was a benefit for me so hopefully that will cover most of it!

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