- About Us
- COCHLEAR IMPLANTS
- CONFERENCES
- Advocacy
- Awareness
- Research
- MEMBERS
American Cochlear Implant Alliance
| Single Sided Deafness (SSD) |
|
Singe sided deafness, one sided deafness or unilateral hearing loss, is hearing loss ranging from mild to profound that only affects one ear. Resources on this page relate to insurance coverage, candidacy, and research on single sided deafness and cochlear implants. Improving Insurance Coverage for Children with Single Sided Deafness: One Program’s Success with Advocacy Feb 2024 Michigan Medicine’s Cochlear Implant program has successfully appealed on an individual case-by-case basis for cochlear implantation for children under age 5 years with SSD for several years. We recently took a broader approach to this issue by advocating for an insurer policy change to specifically include coverage for cochlear implantation for children with SSD under age 5 years. We approached Blue Cross Blue Shield and Blue Care Network of Michigan (BCBS/BCN) because: • Their coverage for cochlear implantation for children with SSD begins at age 5 years • They are the payor for a significant portion of our patients • They stopped allowing voluntary prior authorizations in 2023, effectively halting our ability to appeal for coverage outside the plan’s inclusion guidelines in advance of surgery. 6/2022 Authored by Park, Lisa R.; Griffin, Amanda M.; Sladen, Douglas P.; Neumann, Sara; Young, Nancy M. Endorsed by the American Academy of Audiology With greater recognition of the importance of bilateral hearing in children for language development and overall academic success, single-sided deafness is now an accepted candidacy indication for cochlear implantation. This paper reviews both the current evidence and guidance for referral to a cochlear implant team: a 3-frequency pure-tone average of 60 dB HL or poorer or an aided speech intelligibility index poorer than 0.65 in the ear to be implanted. This paper also details evaluation and management of children with single-sided deafness who receive cochlear implants, including suggestions for spatial hearing assessment and subjective questionnaires. *Click here to download this infographic 6/2022 Authored by Dillon, Margaret T.; Kocharyan, Armine; Daher, Ghazal S.; Carlson, Matthew L.; Shapiro, William H.; Snapp, Hillary A.; Firszt, Jill B. Endorsed by the American Academy of Audiology The importance of binaural hearing benefits not only children, but also adults. This paper probes the literature on single-sided deafness in adults relative to its effect on communication, social interaction, work opportunities, and quality of life to develop guidelines for when clinicians should refer patients for a cochlear implant evaluation. The task force guidelines outline audiologic (i.e., 4-frequency pure-tone average of at least 80 dB in the ear to be implanted plus 4-frequency pure-tone average no better than 55 dB HL in the contralateral ear), medical, and functional performance as measured by subjective questionnaires.
*Click here to download this infographic
Resource on Single-Sided Deafness 6/2022 ACI Alliance has compiled a comprehensive bibliography of medical research done on the benefits of cochlear implantation for unilateral hearing loss. This list includes studies on both adult and children and has been utilized by clinics in educating insurance companies. For more information click here. Insurance Refused to Cover Her Daughter’s CI for SSD but this Mother Never Gave Up 12/14/2021 Our daughter Abigail fell from a hammock in June of 2020 when she was almost 2. She fractured her temporal bone causing single sided deafness (SSD). Unfortunately, we were denied insurance coverage for the cochlear implant. Read her full story here.
Jennifer Pinney is a parent member of the ACI Alliance CI CAN network and actively advocates for insurance coverage for hearing implants. Breaking Down the New Guidelines on Cochlear Implants for Pediatric Single-Sided Deafness 8/16/2020 Despite the FDA’s approval in 2019 of cochlear implants (CI) for children aged 5 years and older with single-sided deafness (SSD), not all clinicians are aware of the benefits of the procedure for these younger patients. To help attract attention to those benefits and provide guidance for CI candidacy, evaluation, and management of children with SSD, the American Cochlear Implant Alliance (ACIA) Task Force published new guidelines. Click below to view courses that discuss Unilateral Hearing Loss CI2020 Online
CI & Hearing Aid CI2020 Online “Clinical Determination of Bimodal versus Bilateral Cochlear Implant Candidacy” (Rene Gifford PhD) FDA APPROVES MED-EL COCHLEAR IMPLANT FOR ASYMMETRIC HEARING LOSS 07/22/2019 MED-EL USA announced FDA approval today for the company’s cochlear implant for single-sided deafness (SSD) and asymmetric hearing loss (AHL). Research supporting this change in indications for children (5 years+) and adults was reported in an ACI Alliance white paper authored by UNC staff. https://www.acialliance.org/page/SingleSided A White Paper in Support of Insurance Coverage for Cochlear Implantation in Cases of Pediatric Unilateral Hearing Loss 6/2019 Lisa R. Park, Hannah Eskridge, Margaret T. Dillon, Kevin D. Brown; The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery This provides an overview of the benefits of cochlear implantation in children with unilateral hearing loss and why insurance should provide coverage.
|
