CMS expands cochlear implant coverage
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Medicare will cover cochlear implants for patients with bilateral pre- or postlinguistic, sensorineural, moderate-to-profound hearing loss, who demonstrate limited benefit from amplification, according to an April 4 final decision memo. "Limited benefit" is defined by test scores of less than 40% correct on a sentence recognition test administered in the patient's best-aided listening condition. The decision is identical to the proposed decision, released in January (1"The Gray Sheet" Jan. 17, 2005, p. 17)...