Stupid

[mbcrui]

reanastormblade  is asking people to go here and send a letter to your congresscritters asking to give a tax credit on hearing aids.  As many of you know, her youngest daughter is deaf and requires the aids to function in a "normal" world.  For some stupid reason, insurance companies and the feds have decided that hearing aids are cosmetic and they aren't covered

Comments

[reanastormblade]

Thank you.

I read the bills closer this time & they would take effect next year. On the bright side, I won't need a tax lawyer to figure out if I'd be better off putting the money in my FSA or take the tax credit - or if I could somehow do both.

[tceisele]

A related question, though, is: WHY do hearing aids (and for that matter, all sorts of medical devices)cost $1500? Eh? What possible justification is there for this? It's a freaking microphone/sound amplifier on a chip, with a battery! It should cost less than an iPod with earphones! I'd think that $150 should cover it easy.

Related to this, my CPAP machine has a list price of $1500. WHY? It's a blower! A BLOWER! It should cost about 50 - 100 bucks, maybe $150 when you include the humidifier and the nosepiece.

As near as I can tell, as soon as you call something "Medical", it becomes a license to slap a zero on the price. *That's* what people need to be railing about as far as medical costs. They apparently get away with it because it is really hard to shop around for the best price with medical gear - it's very much a "take it or leave it" proposition as near as I can tell.

[mbcrui]

as soon as you call something "Medical

In truth, as soon as you call something Medical, it has to be approved by the FDA, has to pass clinical testing, has to be proven to be effective, etc. Clinical tests themselves cost in the millions of dollars. And the patents start from the beginning, so if they take 10 years to get it developed just right and go thru clinical, they get 15 years to recoop all the cost of development and proof.

[dave_ifversen]

Yep, and most places don't actually want to sell you one - they want to rent it to you (and they call it "durable medical equipment"). My insurance company has started complaining about renting the CPAP - if they stop paying for it, I'll probably just send it back to the rental place and set up a compressor in the garage. Run a line through a regulator and into the bedroom, and hook it up to the mask/nosepiece. Way cheaper than $1500.

[marsgov]

You just gave the argument against government health insurance: "the feds have decided that hearing aids are cosmetic and they aren't covered..."

If you think this is bad, wait until the government controls everything.

[mbcrui]

I also said the Feds DO cover them. It depends on whether you're on Medicare (old) or Medicaid (poor).

[marsgov]

And this arbitrary distinction proves that government control of health care will be a good thing?