Academy Supports Expansion Of Medicare CI Coverage Policy

The Academy submitted comments on July 28, 2022, to commend the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on its efforts to modernize the cochlear implantation (CI) coverage policy for Medicare beneficiaries. The Academy provided support for the proposed decision to expand the National Coverage Determination policy by broadening the CI patient criteria to include individuals with aided sentence recognition scores up to 60 percent, instead of 40 percent.  

In late March, the Academy and the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery submitted joint comments to endorse an expanded coverage determination (March 29, 2022). The comment letter included substantial evidence that CI is a well-established, non-experimental intervention that is appropriate for Medicare beneficiaries (and other adults) who receive limited benefit from hearing aids. A copy of the letter is available here.

A small workgroup of Academy members provided substantial input into the drafting of the initial comments and the focus of the final comment letter: Meagan Bachmann, AuD; Jessica Messersmith, PhD; Sarah Sydlowski, AuD, PhD MBA; and Viral Tejani, AuD, PhD.

The Academy recognizes that this coverage decision could significantly enhance clinical outcomes for Medicare beneficiaries with hearing loss.