Evaluation of the reimbursement for hearing aids and implants in hearing loss

Health Services Research (HSR)

In our country around 455,000 people use hearing aids due to hearing loss that can range from slight to very severe. Our health insurance sees to it that everyone can have access to the (sometimes partial) reimbursement of the cost of these devices, but the budget that this represents for the INAMI (National Sickness and Invalidity Insurance Institute) has more than doubled in ten years. It is chiefly the costs associated with increasingly sophisticated (partially or wholly) implantable hearing aids that are constantly rising. The question that arises now is whether this type of hearing aid represents a genuine added value vis-à-vis the basic hearing aids already eligible for cost reimbursement. The INAMI therefore asked us to conduct an investigative study on the effectiveness of certain hearing implants and the possible need to extend their cost reimbursement. Unfortunately, we had to record that not enough solid scientific evidence is available on which to substantiate a broadening of the current criteria. However, we did suggest a few adjustments to these criteria aimed at eliminating certain inconsistencies and gradually moving towards a reimbursement based more on physiopathology.

 KCE Reports 333: Evaluation of the reimbursement for hearing aids and implants in hearing loss