Financial Assistance: Disability Specific: Hearing Impairment
Tweet
Financial Assistance: Hearing Impairment or Deafness offers resources on financial assistance for children and adults with Hearing Impairment or Deafness disabilities, their families and caregivers.
Includes Hearing Impairment, Deafness, Hard of Hearing, Hearing Loss.
Click on this link for Vestibular Disorders, Inner Ear Disorders, Meniere's Syndrome, or Dizziness.
Disclaimer: New Horizons Un-limited is not endorsing and assumes no responsibility in guaranteeing the products, services, programs or conditions as described. If you are interested in a resource listed below, call or contact the resource to verify the current situation. Evaluate the information, analyze your unique circumstances, use your best judgment and make your own decisions when using the information. Before making any change, consult your health care professional.
International
National
States: TN / WA/ID (Official USPS State Abbreviations)
International
SERTOMA is an international organization dedicated to "SERvice TO MAnkind." "Sertoma's primary service project" is to assist "people with speech, hearing, and language disorders" Some Sertoma clubs provide funding for hearing aids. To find out more about this program click on "Looking for Hearing Aid Assistance or Partnerships and Additional Resources?" on the right side of Sertoma's home page. To apply for assistance, a person should apply to a local club. To find a local club, click on "Find A Club" on the left side of home page. Sertoma also offers a $1,000 scholarship for deaf and hard of hearing students with bilateral hearing loss (click on "Sponsorships") and a program for recycling hearing aids (click on "S. H. A. R. P."). The SHARP page also has information about clubs buying hearing aids for individuals, paying for hearing aid repair, and furnishing hearing aid batteries. This page also has a list of other resources. If you can't find the information you need, contact SERTOMA at 1912 E Meyer Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64132, Phone: 816-333-8300, Fax: 816-333-4320 or send e-mail to infosertoma@sertomahq.org
Starkey Hearing Foundation has donated more than 200,000 hearing aids to needy people around the world since the year 2000. Over 80,000 of those were donated to children and adults living in the United States. The Hear Now program provides hearing aids to people living within the United States. This program is for people with very limited incomes and no other resources available to them. Download the application for Hear Now Aid on the Hear Now page for more information about the program and eligibility. Read the information on this application carefully to determine if you are eligible for this program. The income guidelines for total household income in the continental US range from $12,960 for one person to $43,740 for a family of eight. People are encouraged to call Hear Now at 800-648-4327 to discuss their eligibility before submitting an application with the non-refundable processing fee, $100 for one hearing aid and $200 for two. The application also includes forms that must be filled out by your hearing aid provider and primary physician. The Starkey Hearing Foundation provides hearing aids to poor children around the world through Hearing Missions. Click on "Missions" on this website to see a list of missions throughout the world and in the U.S. The foundation supports research and education and also collects hearing aids for recycling. Used hearing aids can be sent to Hear Now, 6700 Washington Ave. South, Eden Prairie, MN 55344. Looking for hearing aid help- Phone: 800-328-8602, Contact the Starkey Hearing Foundation at 6700 Washington Ave., South, Eden Prairie, MN 55344, Phone:866.354.3254 or hearnow@starkeyfoudation.org
National
AUDIENT is a program of Epic Hearing Care that offers a way for people in the United States with low income to buy hearing aids. . The AUDIENT program matches people who are income qualified with hearing health care providers and suppliers of hearing aids. AUDIENT charges fees ranging from $760 to $1100 for one hearing aid and $1,290 to $2,100 for two hearing aids (as of July, 2007) depending on the type of hearing aid required. Income limits range from $24,500 for one person to $84,000 for a family of eight in the continental US. Income limits are higher in Hawaii and Alaska. Financing is available for qualified candidates. Click on "Frequently Asked Questions" to find out a great deal of information about this program including a link in the first question to an Income Qualification Chart. The fees do not cover a hearing evaluation. They do cover the cost of the hearing aids, fittings, ear molds, and three adjustments.
Applying for assistance requires proof of annual income. Application can be made from the AUDIENT website. Click on "How to Get Help" to find links to application forms in English and Spanish. Information about providing proof of income will be found on the application forms. Listed under "Links" are the Better Hearing Institute, Deafness Research Foundation, the American Academy of Audiology and more. Contact the AUDIENT Program, EPIC Hearing Healthcare 3191 W. Temple Ave Suite 200 Pomona, CA 91768 Or Fax to: (909) 348-0070 If you have any questions, please contact EPIC toll free. 1-866-956-5400 ext. #2
Hearing Loss Association of America website offers information about finding financial assistance for obtaining hearing aids and other assistive devices on their Financial Assistance. Suggestions include health insurance, Individualized Education Programs for children in special education programs, Medicaid for people with very low incomes, and several others. The page also includes a list of several organizations that offer some kind of financial assistance for obtaining hearing aids and other devices. Some of these programs are described in this New Horizons Unlimited category. The Hearing Loss Association of America website also offers other kinds of information and support for people with hearing loss. Hearing Loss Association of America
is located at 6116 Executive Blvd., Suite 320
Rockville, MD 20852 or Phone: 301-657-2248 (voice/TTY) or Fax: 301-913-9413 or use their form on the "Contact us page" on their website.
Let Them Hear Foundation provides services to people with hearing disorders around the world whether they can pay or not. The emphasis of this foundation is on hearing. There is a list of hearing related resources under "Links" on the Foundation pages.
Miracle Ear Foundation
With a commitment to helping individuals live and hear more fully, the Miracle-Ear Foundation was established in 1990, to offer the Gift of Sound to individuals and families in need.
The Miracle-Ear Foundation's Gift of Sound hearing aid program helps children and adults with hearing loss gain access to hearing aids. The program is designed for people who demonstrate a personal inability to financially provide for their hearing health needs.,
800-241-1372 Miracle-Ear Headquarters,
150 S 5th St Suite 2300,
Minneapolis, MN, 55402. Frequently asked questions on hearing aids
The Hike Fund, Inc. (Hearing Improvement Kids Endowment Fund, Inc. provides hearing aids and other assistive listening devices to children with hearing loss from birth to age twenty whose families cannot afford these devices. Besides hearing aids, the Hike Fund has provided FM Systems, closed caption converters, alerting systems, and specialized sports equipment. The Hike Fund is a philanthropic project of Jobs Daughters International. An application for hearing aids and other devices can be downloaded from the Fund's website. Directions, including all the information that must be submitted with the application, are explained on the website. These include a letter from the parents or guardians explaining why they need financial assistance, an income statement, a current tax return, an audiogram, and a cost quotation from a supplier of the devices needed. The address to send these to appears on the application. Every case is considered individually based on the families financial situation and the cost of the devices needed. For more information, contact The Hike Fund, Inc., c/o Hike Board Secretary, 10115 Cherryhill Place, Spring Hill, Florica 34608-7116, phone/fax: 352-688-2579 or send e-mail to: ceterrill@aol.com The address etc. for applications: The Hike Fund, Inc.,c/o A. L. Howe, MD, #2 Kentucky Blue Ridge Court, St. Charles, Missouri 63303-4485, phone: 636-928-2101, fax: 636-928-3361, or send e-mail to: alhowemd@accessus.net
Travelers Protective Association of America Hearing Trust provides financial aid for "medical, mechanical or specialized treatment" to people with limited funds who "suffer deafness or hearing impairment." The assistance is provided through a scholarship trust. Application must be made on an approved application form. For more information and/or an application form, write to: TPA Scholarship Trust, Board of Trustees, 2041 Exchange Drive., St. Charles, MO 63303. Applicants that demonstrate the greatest financial need are given preference. Contact The Travelers Protective Association of America, send e-mail to: support@tpahq.org
State Listings
Tennessee
Ear Foundation offers a wide range of programs and services to deaf and hard of hearing Tennesseeans. Via their website, they offer resource listings and on-line support groups. Programs include Young Ears, Senior Ears, and the Minnie Pearl Scholarship. For more information, call (800) 545-4327 or e-mail info@earfoundation.org..
Washington/Northern Idaho
Lions Hearing Aid Bank is a program of the Northwest Lions Foundation. The Lions Hearing Aid Bank collects used hearing aids, reconditions them, and loans them out to low income people who can't afford the hearing aids they need. The program serves people living in Washington State and Northern Idaho. The program serves people with incomes up to 125% of the federal poverty level, about $12,250 for one person in 2006. To be served by this program, a person needs to be sponsored by a local Lions Club. To find out more information about this program, contact some one at a local Lions Club or Thlayla Potter at 800-847-5786 or thlaylap@audientalliance.org. The material on the website is primarily written for Lions Clubs and tells them how to submit an application in a person's behalf. Reading this material (downloads listed under Lions Hearing Aid Bank) will give a person an idea of how the program works, but an application for help has to be made through a local Lions Club. There are many resources listed under "Hearing Links," including the Hearing Loss Association of America, Hearing Loss Association of Washington, and the Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center. Contact the Northwest Lions Foundation for Sight and Hearing at 901 Boren Ave., Suite 810, Seattle, WA 98104-3534, Phone: 800-847-5786, or send e-mail to thlayla@nlfoundation.org
-