Abstract
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to create a database of Medicaid fee-for-service hearing aid coverage policies for adults over 20 years old from 2003 to 2023 and quantify yearly averages of the share of beneficiaries living with hearing aid coverage benefits.
METHOD: Policy surveillance and data triangulation were used to retrieve and code Medicaid fee-for-service coverage policies. Policy data were combined with a subset of individual-level data from the American Community Survey to estimate the annual share of adult Medicaid beneficiaries over 20 years old residing in states with hearing aid coverage.
SURVEY POPULATION: Policy data were combined with sociodemographic variables from the American Community Survey to estimate the share of adult Medicaid beneficiaries covered by a Medicaid hearing aid coverage policy from 2003 to 2023.
RESULTS: States (N = 32) offered Medicaid hearing aid coverage for adults in 2003. By 2013, that decreased to 27 states but increased to 31 states in 2023. Between 2003 and 2023, four states implemented, four states interrupted, and four states removed coverage. In 2008, 65.4% of adults with Medicaid had hearing aid coverage; this percentage increased to 70.3% by 2023. The longitudinal Medicaid hearing aid policy database is active and continues to be updated.
CONCLUSION: Given the known impacts of untreated hearing loss on quality of life and health, a lack of Medicaid hearing aid coverage for adults may undermine states' health equity goals and public health efforts to promote health over the life course.
SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.32270619.