| | | | | | | | | Listening is a vehicle for us to share information on cochlear implants and hearing loss with hearing healthcare providers, adult CI recipients (and those exploring CI), parents and family members interested in CI, educators who work with deaf and hard of hearing children, and anyone wanting to learn more about cochlear implants. ACI Alliance is a not-for-profit organization created with the purpose of eliminating barriers to cochlear implantation by sponsoring research, driving heightened awareness and advocating for improved access to cochlear implants for people of all ages. There is a wealth of information on our website. Our work at ACI Alliance follows our mission encompassing research, advocacy, and awareness. Accordingly, Listening covers all three. We encourage you to share sign-up details for this free e-newsletter with patients, family members, colleagues or anyone who may be interested. | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | ACI Alliance celebrates 10 years since its founding in October 2011. We share our top 10 achievements for our first ten years. | | | | |
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| | | | | | | | | | Understanding Health Insurance and Cochlear Implants | | | | |
| | | | | The questions we receive the most relate to health insurance coverage of cochlear implantation. Learn more: | | | | |
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| | | | | | | | | | | Personal Purpose, Professional Passion | Carrie Spangler AuD | | | | |
| | | | | Carrie Spangler is the lead educational audiologist at the Summit Educational Service Center in Cuyahoga Falls Ohio. She has over 20 years of professional experience and a lifelong experience of living with hearing loss. She is a wife, mom of 2 teenagers, and blogger. | | | | |
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| | | | | | | | | | | | Our interactive map of cochlear implant centers, clinical service providers and schools helps anyone find a CI specialty center. | | | | |
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| | | | | | | | | | | | World Health Organization | | | | |
| | | | | ACI Alliance is a member of the World Hearing Forum (WHF) and supports its mission, which led to publication of the World Report on Hearing. A recent member Forum call concerned a soon to be released Hearing Screening Handbook to promote screening for infants, children, and adults. The handbook will support our own efforts in the US. | | | | |
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| | | | | | | | | | | Medicare Reimbursement for CI Audiology Services | | | | |
| | | | | When services are under-reimbursed, programs have difficulty operating. CMS recently published a new fee schedule that proposes to cut reimbursement for CI related audiology services.
ACI Alliance submitted comments on the 2022 Physician Payment Schedule highlighting the negative impact of proposed cuts on CI reprogramming and electrocochleography. To view the comments submitted to CMSclick here. Other comments and testimony submitted by ACI Alliance to federal agencies and state legislatures surrounding access to cochlear implants are availablehere. Past submissions addressed parent choice, early intervention, telehealth, veterans access, and insurance coverage. | | | | |
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| | | | | | | | | | | Malala Fund and Cochlear Foundation partnership | | | | |
| | | | | Malala Yousafzai received the Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 17 for her work regarding the right of all children to receive an education and equality for girls and women. Today she continues to champion the rights of girls to have an education and is a courageous role model for a generation of young people worldwide. Malala recently shared that she has a hearing loss. | | | | |
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| | | | | | | | | | | | Research on Sound Distortion with Transparent Face Masks | | | | |
| | | | | As COVID-19 awareness and transmission increased throughout 2020, so did mask use. For people with hearing loss, the muffled speech and lack of ability to see a speaker’s mouth and lips made understanding speech harder in everyday situations. Manufacturers and some do-it-yourself individuals began to promote masks with a clear or transparent window to address the issue. ACI Allianceshared insights on the benefits of clear masks for visual access in 2020 especially as it related to students in classroom settings. Recent research on clear masks undertaken at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences was published in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. The research found that transparent face coverings cause speech to have greater attenuation and resonant peaks and also deflect sounds in ways that non-transparent masks do not. | | | | |
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| | | | | | | | | | Like what you’ve seen? There is no obligation to join to continue receiving Listening but if you wish to be more involved in ACI Alliance, explore the opportunities for membership. |
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