Aetna agrees to pay for double cochlear implants
By MARIA M. PEROTIN
Star-Telegram staff writer
Aetna will now pay for profoundly deaf patients to receive two cochlear implants.
The change in Aetna’s rules means that the insurer covers the devices for eligible patients over 1 year old.
About cochlear implants: They’re small electronic devices that can help deaf users have a sense of sound and understand speech. About 22,000 American adults and almost 15,000 children had received them as of 2005, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
How the implants work: Each implant has an external portion that sits behind the ear and a second part placed under the skin. The device sends signals to the auditory nerve. Users undergo a surgical procedure and follow-up therapy.
Aetna’s decision: The insurer, which has about 977,000 members in Dallas-Fort Worth, updated its policy Oct. 19 to include coverage of two implants for adults and children who meet certain conditions.
Background: The Let Them Hear Foundation, a group that contests insurance denials to hearing-impaired patients, said it was on the verge of filing a lawsuit over Aetna’s earlier contention that the implants were an experimental treatment.
Aetna became the fourth of five national insurance carriers to add coverage for two implants, according to the foundation.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, the state’s largest insurer, began covering the treatment in September 2006.
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Maria M. Perotin, 817-390-7339