FDA/ Bilateral implants/insurance

February 28, 2004

Last Tuesday I went for remaps, my first in a year.

I have been having problems with my backup 3G which I purchased six months

ago, the T coil is not working.

My audi phoned Nucleus and said that it was not functioning properly and

asked for a replacement.

We made a few changes on my programs and I am hearing female voices better,

and also the 'soft ' sounds.

I asked about bilateral implants, he said they hadn't been approved yet by

the FDA !!

I said that I knew of several people that had gone bilateral, he asked me how

I knew that, and I said through an online support CI group.

He said " oh the Internet, " he made two phone calls, presumably to prove me

wrong.

The first was to Cochlear, he asked if the FDA had approved bilateral

implants, and was told that we didn't need FDA approval for second implants. He

asked

which insurance companies were covering it and was told to phone

reimbursements. He did that, and if he was given any information he did not

share it. But

he did say that Kaiser would definitely not cover it.

What surprised me was, when I mentioned bilateral implants, he was not aware

of them being done, and appeared not to be in favor of them, he buried his

head on the desk and said " oh no " instead of saying " that is great "

I asked if he was involved in any support groups and his comment was, " oh I

did all that years ago "

Kaiser is going to open another center soon that is nearer to me, and I will

switch to that one as soon as I can.

It still amazes me how much the professionals are lacking in knowledge of the

advancements in their chosen fields. We have to continue to get the message

out there about the Cochlear Implant and the many advances that have been made

in the last few years.

in Ca........... SeaAngel1@...

Profound Bilateral Sensorineural hearing loss

Two HA's for thirty years.

Nucleus N24 C. Aug 7th 2002

Hookup with BWP Sept. 12.02 ................. 3G Oct 1.02

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