[Access] Fwd: Raves (Yes, It's True) for New Hearing Aid

Thu Apr 17 01:19:41 CDT 2008

Thanks for the resource.  I am not in need at this time for a hearing 
aid, but will be at some point.  Does this resource offer to pay part 
of hearing aids specifically?  dm

On Apr 16, 2008, at 9:38 PM, jeannemarie moore wrote:

> Hi Mariah,
>  
> Do you know about the Blanche fischer Foundation?  You submit a 
> request for equipment and have to pay part of it, but...
> you have to be an Oregon resident and low income, and have a 
> disability...
> you're all those yes?
> go to that web site I think it's just their name.org
>  
> blanchefischer.org
> but not sure, sorry.
>  
> j-m.
>  
>  
>
>> From: access-bounces at uueugene.org 
>> [mailto:access-bounces at uueugene.org] On Behalf Of d. maria
>> Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 12:22 AM
>> To: Access Issues and Discussion
>> Subject: Re: [Access] Fwd: Raves (Yes, It's True) for New Hearing Aid
>>
>> David, hearing aides generally cost $3,000 to 5,000. At $3,000 a 
>> year, this is not cheap!!!
>> I will never be able to afford a hearing aid, (it took me 5 years to 
>> pay off my oral surgery and false teeth due to an infection). One 
>> would have to be wealthy to afford this new thing. Sounds good, tho. 
>> I can't figure out why there are ways to get drugs, eye glasses, and 
>> all other devises... even wheel chairs, when they are not covered by 
>> standard insurance... but, no one covers hearing aides. this makes no 
>> sense to me. Not being able to hear impedes communication. dm
>>
>> On Apr 15, 2008, at 11:14 PM, David Gilmartin wrote:
>>
>>> Received this information (sort of a combo story and promotion, I 
>>> thought) from a friend of mine. Though it seems a bit pricy to me, I 
>>> know hearing aids often cost quite a bit. There's a website 
>>> mentioned in the story that will get you a bit more detail and some 
>>> graphics.
>>>
>>> David Gilmartin
>>>
>>>> New York Times  --  April 15, 2008
>>>> Well
>>>> Raves (Yes, It's True) for New Hearing Aid
>>>> By TARA PARKER-POPE
>>>>
>>>> Few products are hated as much as hearing aids.
>>>>
>>>> The devices can squeal with feedback and overamplify background 
>>>> noises like the click of a turn signal or whir of a ceiling fan. 
>>>> They must be removed for showering or sleeping, and their batteries 
>>>> die frequently. Many users, out of exasperation, decide they'd 
>>>> rather live with hearing loss.
>>>>
>>>> But now scientists have come up with a different kind of hearing 
>>>> aid. While the device, called the Lyric, is being used in only 500 
>>>> patients, it appears to have overcome many of the problems 
>>>> associated with traditional hearing aids - without the expense and 
>>>> uncertainty of surgery and anesthesia.
>>>>
>>>> The Lyric, made by InSound Medical of Newark, Calif., is hidden 
>>>> deep inside the ear canal, just four millimeters (about one-sixth 
>>>> of an inch) from the ear drum. While doctors for years have been 
>>>> implanting hearing devices in the middle ear, the Lyric is not an 
>>>> implant: it can be removed with a small magnet. It is worn 24 hours 
>>>> a day, and its batteries last one to four months.
>>>>
>>>> Typically, anything that clogs the ear canal would trap moisture 
>>>> and pose an infection risk, but the Lyric is surrounded by a spongy 
>>>> material that allows moisture to escape. Because it sits so close 
>>>> to the ear drum, doctors say that it works more efficiently and 
>>>> that sounds are more natural because they don't have to be 
>>>> amplified as much.
>>>>
>>>> When the Lyric's battery dies, the entire device is replaced. 
>>>> Patients do not pay for a new device every time; instead, they pay 
>>>> an annual subscription fee of $2,900 to $3,600 for both ears (less 
>>>> if the hearing loss is in only one ear). Insurance plans typically 
>>>> do not cover the cost of the Lyric, or any other hearing device.
>>>>
>>>> A magnet is used to control the volume, turn it on and off and 
>>>> remove it when the battery runs out. It takes only a few minutes 
>>>> for a doctor to insert a replacement device.
>>>>
>>>> The Lyric does not work for everyone. In particular, some ear 
>>>> canals are too narrow to accommodate it, and the company estimates 
>>>> that it is not suitable for up to half of potential patients. A 
>>>> planned newer version should work for about 85 percent of patients, 
>>>> it says.
>>>>
>>>> Still, it is already getting an enthusiastic reception from 
>>>> patients and from hearing specialists not connected with the 
>>>> company. "There are a certain number of patients who just can't get 
>>>> over having something in their ear, just as there are a certain 
>>>> number of patients who can't wear contact lenses," said Dr. Chester 
>>>> F. Griffiths, chairman of the department of surgery at the Santa 
>>>> Monica U.C.L.A. Medical Center. "But that's the minority. The 
>>>> patients that have them love them."
>>>>
>>>> Dr. Griffiths says he has no financial ties to the Lyric, nor does 
>>>> he receive a commission for referring patients.
>>>>
>>>> One patient who swears by the device is Mike Waufle, the 
>>>> 53-year-old defensive line coach for the New York Giants. After a 
>>>> stint in the Marines and regular exposure to the sounds of gunfire, 
>>>> Mr. Waufle suffered hearing loss that grew worse and worse as he 
>>>> aged.
>>>>
>>>> On the football field, he just turned up the volume on his headset. 
>>>> But the locker room was a different story. Some voices were 
>>>> impossible to hear (including that of his last boss, Jon Gruden, 
>>>> the former Oakland Raiders head coach). Players learned they needed 
>>>> to face him when they spoke to him. Using a traditional hearing 
>>>> aid, he found it difficult to control his own voice.
>>>>
>>>> "I teach a lot in a classroom as a coach, but when I would wear a 
>>>> hearing aid my voice pattern wasn't very good," he said. "It was 
>>>> all over the place. I just took it out most of the time. I missed 
>>>> an awful lot."
>>>>
>>>> As it happened, a team doctor was one of a handful of physicians 
>>>> test-marketing the Lyric, which has been available for about 16 
>>>> months. Mr. Waufle tried it, and he says it has changed his life.
>>>>
>>>> "My voice pattern is so natural, and I hear so much better," he 
>>>> said. "Obviously, it's easier to carry on normal conversations 
>>>> without having to always say, 'Huh? What did you say?' And it helps 
>>>> just enjoying life over all and being able to hear the simple 
>>>> things like birds and other sounds you take for granted."
>>>>
>>>> Mr. Waufle says he has no financial ties to the company and 
>>>> receives no benefit for talking about his experience with the 
>>>> device. (The company says none of the people featured in 
>>>> testimonials on its Web site, www.lyrichearing.com, receive any 
>>>> form of compensation for their endorsements.)
>>>>
>>>> Right now, the Lyric is offered only through a dozen clinics in 
>>>> California, Florida and New Jersey, but it should be available at 
>>>> about 100 sites by the end of the year. Some patients who don't 
>>>> live near a clinic simply fly or drive to a site four or five times 
>>>> a year. InSound is a privately held firm, although the 
>>>> pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson is a major investor.
>>>>
>>>> Dr. Robert A. Schindler, a co-founder of InSound and chairman 
>>>> emeritus of the department of otolaryngology at the University of 
>>>> California, San Francisco, says he has had hearing loss most of his 
>>>> life and has worn a Lyric since 2005. He says he remembers 
>>>> listening to an orchestra and hearing the light ping of the 
>>>> triangle.
>>>>
>>>> "I realized I hadn't heard it before," he said. "That was a very 
>>>> exciting moment for me."
>>>>
>>>> E-mail: well at nytimes.com
>>>> --_______________________________________________
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