Hearing Life - So many unkept promises

Hearing Aids
1

Anyone know how to reach a managerial customer support. Won’t respond to request for appointment. Bought 5K Oticons. I really need some HONEST support.
I asked for information on the H>A> I bought to sent to my United Health insurance,
“We do the discounting for you.
The price of the hearing aids was $7900 but your insurance allows you to pay $5500.
So you already received the $2400 discount and cannot be applied for again.”
AND
“Good afternoon, Ms. Metz. You bought the best level, the top tier.
Just so you know, you cannot submit for an additional discount through your insurance,
as you already received the discount when you bought them.”
AND
Good afternoon, Ms. Metz. You bought the best level, the top tier.
Just so you know, you cannot submit for an additional discount through your insurance,
as you already received the discount when you bought them.

I never received any information.

CAN ANYONE HELP ME??

2

You need to explain exactly what you want help with.

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3

Only if you are still in the return period.

4

What you are talking about and asking for is what your audiologist is responsible for. All hearing aid companies view their customers to be the hearing aid provider and not us the hearing aid users. I have been wearing aids for 20 years and already been done the same road minus the insurance company. As a veteran my aids are provided by the Veterans Administration and my hearing loss is due to my military service.

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5

She is past the return period. See her original thread for a bit more detail:

If I’m reading this right, BarbaraAnn’s United Health insurance policy has a $5,500 deductible for hearing aids. Hearing Life sold her the aids for that amount. If that’s the case, that’s the deal. It’s not unfair. And if the deal was unfair, it needed to be addressed before the return period (30 days after the fitting appointment) had lapsed.

Most people in the US do not have any insurance coverage for hearing aids. Those who do often get a discount–which BarbaraAnn got–but they still end up paying a lot of money for hearing aids.

Feel free to give more detail, BarbaraAnn, if the above is not accurate. What exactly were the promises you felt were broken, and do you have any of them in writing?

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6

Either way, to document the deductible expenditure for her insurer and the IRS, she needs specific information about her hearing aids.

7

The audiologists I’ve purchased hearing aids from had a series of forms that were signed at the time of purchase by the patient. This should include documentation of the aids, Oticon Intent 1 and serial numbers. It would have detail about the return policy. There would be something about whether there would be an insurance claim. And again the patient signs off and is given a copy of these documents to take home with the aids. Did that not happen here?

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8

@BarbaraAnn
Tell them you need detailed documentation for proof of deductible expenditure for your insurer, and for the IRS for your taxes.

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9

The audiologist should still be willing to provide paperwork establishing that. It wouldn’t take them long to print that out. They’d find the account and hit the Print key on the computer.

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10

Are they in network or out of network?

Ask for a superbill which should have the billing codes and amounts.

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11

User490. Thank you but I don’t understand in network or out of network. I’ve never heard of a s
uper bill. Where does that originate?

12

HAMJOR1 thank you. But I was not given that paperwork. I do have a copy of a bill. It does have wording about the 30 day trial and return policies.

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13

hamjor1- I will be going in this week and I will ask for that. We will see what happens

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14

hamjor1- The provider is not answering texts or phone messages. That is making me very suspicious

15

You say you have the bill. If it has the procedure codes and provider details it is enough to start an insurance claim if that’s what you’re trying to do. Send that to the insurer with your proof of payment. Do not delay filing a claim while you try to obtain paperwork or you might miss the claim filing deadline.

16

You can file a complaint with the NJ Division of Consumer Affairs (if the Hearing Life office you went to is in New Jersey) if you feel there has been unprofessional, unethical, or illegal conduct. You can also contact the Hearing Life corporate headquarters, which is actually in New Jersey. If some particular office is conducting business in a way that reflects poorly on the profession, or on the company’s reputation as a whole, it should be reported.

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17

re the provider not answering your texts or phone messages. That would make me nervous too. Bad sign. Well they did answer, just very tersely, saying they weren’t filing insurance because you got a discount, and now it seems they’re giving you the silent treatment; ignore her and hope she goes away. The suggestions above for how to proceed are good ones. Regulation of the sale of hearing aids varies greatly by state.

If you did indeed buy these aids in NJ, here are the responsibilities of the seller there:
https://codes.findlaw.com/nj/title-45-professions-and-occupations/nj-st-sect-45-9a-23.html

Did they do this?

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18

I’m suspicious that they’re afraid of being caught by your insurance company for having done something naughty. According to online searching I’ve done very recently, your insurer can claw back money under certain circumstances - like overcharging or fraud. I wonder if they are afraid of getting busted having done things on a lot of claims, and losing lots of money as a result. Maybe also facing legal repercussions.