CI CAN
COCHLEAR IMPLANT CONSUMER ADVOCACY NETWORK
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Public policy that bears upon access to cochlear implants is a critical element of the mission of ACI Alliance. By helping policymakers understand what matters to people and to the process of providing quality clinical care, your personal
stories of living with significant hearing loss yourself or with a family member or friend is critical to our success. CI CAN is designed to amplify ACI Alliance’s ongoing efforts with grassroots advocacy. Anyone who has or needs a cochlear implant or supports others may join our network. ACI Alliance staff and volunteers provide training and guidance and there is no cost to join or participate. Join our network and help us make a difference.
Click here to join
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Spotlight on CI CAN Advocates
- Kelly Flodin is one of our newer members, hailing from South Carolina. In his application to join CI CAN, he noted,
“I had hearing aids for years with limited results and was kind of discouraged from getting implants by my audiologists. By accident I was referred to Medical University of South Carolina for a candidacy evaluation by an interim audiologist filling in at one of my appointments. She told me I would likely be a good CI candidate and I decided to go through with it. That was 6/12/2020. The difference with cochlear implants is life changing."
READ HIS STORY HERE_________________________________________________________________________________
- Parent and CI CAN advocate Sabrina faced a steep learning curve advocating for her son with their insurance company to cover his cochlear implant. Sabrina was successful in her advocacy but didn’t stop there, eventually working with state legislators in Connecticut to introduce legislation that would promote coverage of cochlear implantation by private insurance plans. Reflecting on her advocacy journey, Sabrina noted,
“although as parents we fight relentlessly for our children, this proved to be an unjustifiably difficult process. We will never stop grieving for the developmental time our son lost; it is our goal that other families that chose listening and spoken language not have to endure such a fight to be provided with access to sound and the earliest intervention.”
