ANA Discussion Forum
General Category => Hearing Issues => Topic started by: Sue Vogel on December 17, 2009, 11:38:30 am
-
I am very encouraged by Gloria's report about the trial using Soundbite for SSD and the potential availability of this device next year. I am yet to see anything posted about a potential cost. I think it was Gloria who said, "insurance companies can't keep hiding behind the blanket statement that they don't cover hearing aids." But the truth is that they are, and they are getting away with it. So that leaves many of us with no resources for hearing improvement. I was wondering if Soundbite is going to be affordable for those of us who are being sidestepped by our insurance companies.
I would love to "hear" from you. (No pun.)
SUE
-
Somebody threw out $4K US, but Pooter, I think it was, advised the company to try $2.8K. ;)
You could contact the company directly. I'm hoping for the device as well.
-
For the record, I wasn't the one to first throw out the $4,000 figure... I just repeated it. NOTE here:
When I contacted Sonitus about pricing, this is the reply I received:
Hi Grace,
Thanks for the inquiry. Our estimated price, once we receive our first FDA clearance (which we intend to be in mid 2010), will ultimately be determined by your doctor, but it will likely be in the $4,000 ballpark.
Regards,
Jason Shelton
VP Marketing
Sonitus Medical, Inc.
1825 South Grant Street, Suite 350
San Mateo CA, 94402
(650) 353-5827 - office
jason@sonitusmedical.com
www.sonitusmedical.com
Grace
Also, for the record they really should bring the price down to be more competitive with BAHA and TransEar if they truly want to compete with them.. and if this healthcare thing that's being debated in Washington goes through, then "medical devices" (e.g. the soundbite, transear and BAHA among many others) will be taxed to the high heavens. But, don't get me started on THAT. ;)
Brian
-
It appears that the Sound Bite, when it's available, will be in the same price range as the BAHA devices currently on the market.
Final price for a BAHA device is set by the doctor/audiologist or practice that sells it to you, but the Cochlear BP100 is going for around $3,750 plus programming and the Oticon Ponto Pro is approximately $4,500.
Jan
-
Jan is that including or in addition to the cost of placing an abutment?
Sara
-
Sara -
that would be in addition to the cost of the surgery - which usually entails the doctor, the outpatient facility or hospital, and possibly an anesthesiologist (if you choose the option of general as opposed to local anesthesia).
My insurance company discounted the cost of the device plus the surgery, but I want to say before the discounts it came to about $46,000 (and I had local administered by my doc; no anesthesiologist involved) - but I'd have to check my EOBs to be positive.
Jan
-
Donnalynn -
Sound Bite is a new device being tested for those who are SSD. It involves wearing a piece in your mouth and a piece behind your ear.
Gloria is part of a group testing the Sound Bite, in San Francisco I believe.
Here's a link to her thread http://anausa.org/forum/index.php?topic=10753.msg124376#msg124376
Jan
-
Jan, do you mean $4600? Thanks for posting the link for Donna, I was just going to look that up when your post appeared.
Hope everyone has a great day!
Sara
-
Sara -
no, I meant to say $46,000 but once my insurance company was done discounting it (everything was in my healthcare network) it was much cheaper. Have you seen the cost of a medical facility, an OR, a surgeon, a team of medical personnel, drugs (lidocaine), and supplies lately? I'm sure you are aware of the markup on these things :o
Plus somewhere in the price is the cost of the diamond tip drill used to drill the hole in the skull. The outpatient facility where my doc generally does BAHA implants has their own drill, but my surgery was done at a hospital where he usually doesn't do BAHAs, so they had to rent a drill from Cochlear. I don't know the exact cost of the rental, but I'm 100% certain it was factored into my bill.
The BAHA device is billed separately and it's in the neighborhood of $4,000.
Thank God for insurance coverage or I'd be BAHA-less.
Jan
-
ouch ouch ouch is all I can say...my whole payment (surgery and baha device) cost only $1.000.00. i know its a public health care system here in ontario, but at times i am gladt have it.
JO
-
Wow, Jan, I'm stunned. I might have expected that an overnight stay with general anesthesia might rack up a charge like that. But holy cow.
Sara
-
The BAHA package at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics is $35,000 which is why I am also BAHAless.
For those who have also read about SoundBite, I read a review that said it was for those with conductive hearing loss and not for those with sensori neural hearing loss. The conductive hearing loss candidates have damage in the outer ear or the middle ear. The sensori neural hearing loss candidates have damage in the inner ear. My audiologist office says that my deafness is sensori neural and not damage in the outer ear or middle ear (which is why my Blue Cross will not pay for the BAHA.) If the information I read about SoundBite is correct, are those of us who are Translabites going to be eligible for it?
Gloria, are you SSD due to Translab?
SUE
-
I had the same question when I read a little on the SoundBite website but chose to ignore it and hope it applies to us translabbies.
-
This issue has come up before with BAHA, and now again with Soundbite.
First off, Gloria is SSD.
Neither a BAHA nor a SoundBite will help sensori-neural hearing loss on the same side as the device. Both devices are most commonly used to address conductive hearing loss on the same side as the device. The use of a BAHA or a SoundBite to address SSD by sending sound to the other side of the head seems to be less well known out in the non-AN and non-SSD world.
Nevertheless, this use for SSD is an additional application for the BAHA, and it is used this way by our forum members who have BAHAs. And, as it says on the SoundBite web site: "SoundBite hearing system is intended for patients who suffer from single sided deafness..."
Steve
-
Steve,
Aren't you supposed to be knitting or something?
Nancy
-
So Steve...could you clarify your message for me...Are you saying that both BAHA and Soundbite are appropriate for us SSD folks with sensori neural hearing loss even though it says that it is not for this type of hearing loss? My Blue Cross specifically rules out paying for a BAHA for an individual with a sensori neural hearing loss. I don't understand this. My audiologist said if my deafness was due to chronic ear infection in my middle or outer ear that Blue Cross would pay for the BAHA but not for me since my hearing loss was in my inner ear. I don't understand the discrimination. Why do they care what caused the deafness? It's still a deaf ear and can be remedied by the BAHA. My insurance says it is "not medically necessary for those with sensori neural hearing loss." I don't understand "medically necessary" - for whom?
SUE
-
I have every confidence that Steve can knit and post simultaneously. Right, Steve?
Sue, I think it is worthwhile for you to appeal to your insurance company on the grounds that you would benefit from the lesser-known conductive property of the BAHA. Surely there is something out there that you can use as documentation.
Meanwhile, have you participated in a BAHA trial? If you can show that helped you, then it would follow that the surgery would be of benefit also.
Sara
-
Wow, Jan, I'm stunned. I might have expected that an overnight stay with general anesthesia might rack up a charge like that. But holy cow.
Sara - as I said earlier, that was the price before my insurance company discounted it. After they discounted it, it cost less than $10,000 - for the surgery and the device - and I never paid one cent.
I don't think there is such a thing as a BAHA trial since the BAHA is a tried and true product - unlike the SoundBite - it's been around for a long time (many, many years in Europe before it came to the states) so there is nothing to "try". You can demo the BAHA, but that's something different.
Sue -
the BAHA is considered medically necessary for those who are SSD - BUT that does not mean that your insurance company is required to cover it.
My insurance company's biggest question was "are you SSD?" I quickly referred them to my AN surgical report which clearly stated that I was SSD as a result of my surgery. That coupled with the information my doctor sent them on what the BAHA would do for me and why I needed it was enough information for them.
Did you ever find out if your insurance company covers Cochlear Implants? If so and they are refusing to cover a BAHA you have a better discrimination case based on that argument than you'd have arguing chronic ear infections.
Also, did you ever contact Cochlear and ask for help in getting Blue Cross to cover a BAHA?
Jan
-
Jan, I didn't mean a medical trial, but the deal where they put one on a headband so you can get an idea of how it works.
Sara
-
Sorry, guess I misunderstood. That would be a BAHA demo.
-
Yes, demo, thanks. I was thinking "try it out" and "trial" seemed like the right word at the time.
It seems reasonable that if Sue's hearing improved during a BAHA demo, then an implant and device would work as well. Of course insurance companies are not always known for being reasonable.
-
Sue,
I am just quoting web sites.
The first sentence of the last paragraph on this page, at the SoundBite web site:
http://www.sonitusmedical.com/product/technology.cfm
"SoundBite hearing system is intended for patients who suffer from single sided deafness,..."
The first sentence of the last paragraph on this page, at the Cochlear web site, regarding who can use a BAHA. You need to click on the blue SSD tab, and find the paragraph at the bottom with the title "The Baha® solution for SSD"
http://products.cochlearamericas.com/baha/introduction-to-baha/who-can-use-baha
"Baha®, a CE marked and FDA cleared solution for SSD, provides a unique benefit. The Baha device is placed on the deaf side behind the ear, and transfers sound through bone conduction, stimulating the cochlea of the normal hearing ear."
This is not the more common use of these devices, which is to bypass a conductive hearing loss on the same side as the device. Audiologists and apparently insurance companies are not always aware of their use with SSD. As Jan suggested, contacting the companies about insurance issues may help.
And Nancy is right, I should be knitting. I am so far behind on it now, it is hard to get going.
Steve
-
And Nancy is right, I should be knitting. I am so far behind on it now, it is hard to get going.
Heck, even Santa's elves take a break now and then. Tis the holiday season Steve, let the needles rest for a while.
I never know how you fit it all in - moderating and posting on the Forum, knitting hats for your fellow Forumites - and then of course there's your day job.
Thanks for all you do around here!
Jan
(Hijack over, Phyl) ;)
-
Okay, I just re-read the Soundbite description. It refers to transferring sound to both cochleae, but I guess if one is missing, we still have the other one.
Knit one, purl one . . .