Tuesday, September 6, 2011

How well does your health plan cover treatment for communication disorders?

Nearly 50 million Americans have a speech, language or hearing disorder. The ability to communicate is essential to learning, working, social well being and living independently. When communication is impaired, it affects every aspect of a person's life, including interactions in the workplace. You can positively impact workplace communication by making sure that you provide adequate speech, language and hearing benefits under your health insurance. We always negotiate with health insurance carriers to implement ASHA's model speech, language and hearing benefits as part of our contract. It's an inexpensive benefit to offer -- less than 35 cents per covered employee per month. Yet, it's critical when an employee needs it. 


Can you imagine struggling through a meeting unable to hear most of the conversation? Approximately 30 million Americans have a hearing loss and half of them are under age 50, so many of them are in the workplace. Today's digital hearing aid prices range from approximately $1,000 to $3,500 per hearing aid according to this post. The $2,000 benefit provided in our model language puts hearing aids within reach of those that need them. 


Take a few minutes to watch this video and imagine what it might be like to be a parent of a child who stutters. Two out of every 10 children have some type of speech, language or hearing disorder. Although educational systems provide speech, language, and hearing services, they are available only to children who qualify under a very rigid set of federal regulations and state education laws. In addition, caseloads in the schools are high, so many children benefit from supplemental services. This can be a big worry and expense for parents if their health insurance provides inadequate coverage. 


Make sure you know what your policy currently covers. Or better yet, do what we do and negotiate with your carrier to cover speech, language and hearing benefits as described in the ASHA's model language below.


ASHA Model Benefits (Aug 2011)






20 comments:

Dale said...

Communication is needed in almost every little thing you do. Imagine life without your senses, you won't be able to communicate properly. Paying attention on such factors is always very important.

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health insurance australia said...

My health plan has me covered for practically everything. I even have dental and travel insurance.

John said...

It'll be great if your health insurance covers everything, including the treatment for communication disorders.

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hearing solutions said...

Unfortunately, not all insurance plans cover everything about health. There are some insurances that only cover hospitalization but do not cover special treatments like hearing aids and dental implants/surgeries.

dentist said...

Most insurance policies just cover the checkup costs and not the medications that may be needed in these communication disorders. If you think that you might be needing more coverage, coordinate this with your insurance provider.

Maia Dobson said...

I think health insurance plans should have allotted budget for any kind of disability even if it's communication disability. Even dental care should be included in our expensive health plan.

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daniellaprice30 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
daniellaprice30 said...

This article makes perfect sense. I think the government should make our Medicare insurance more competitive. I hope they'd cover emergency health support too.

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Erica White said...

Some medical plans aren't competitive enough and they don't even cover communication disorders or some peculiar disease. I just wish that our seniors at retirement communities New York get more privilege and discounts on the medicines they buy.

Ashley said...

Most insurance policies have their limitations and restrictions with regards to dental care. Consult an affiliated DC cosmetic dentist for more information.

dentist said...

Communication is extremely important and vital in everyday life and whatever disorder connected to it is tough and must be given medical attention.

buckhead dentist said...

Some of insurance policies have their own limits. So better use yours wisely.

private health insurance australia said...

I agree with Maia. Insurance companies should structure their packages to cover as many conditions as possible - if not every single one entirely. Sadly, not every company can or is willing to cover such a broad scope. The best thing to do so far is to just choose the company that can give you the best coverage you can get.

dentist myrtle beach said...

Some of our medical programs does not cover everything but other insurance covers all, I really want to get that one.

dentist myrtle beach said...

Some of our medical programs does not cover everything but other insurance covers all, I really want to get that one.

MisYahd said...

They do cover even my dental health and that's what I love about it. I admit on having a sensitive teeth and it kills me everyday.
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Bella said...

Not all health care provider's are covering dental care. They wouldn't know that lots of people are considering dental care as well.

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Unknown said...

I agree with MisYahd. I guess we are quite lucky that our orthodontists in melbourne do cover it because otherwise, I'll be really frustrated.

Jim Wilcox said...

Really informative stuff here. One suggestion I recommend for keeping track of your dental health insurance plans and policies is to consult dentist in huntersville nc. I highly recommend them.

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