I have had tinnitus for a few years and visited an audiologist a couple of years ago. She did a hearing test and told me (much to my surprise) that I had some hearing loss and recommended hearing aids. I didn’t go through with it because of a) cost and lack of insurance covering them and b) not really wanting to wear a hearing aid. The tinnitus is still bothering me and I just went on Medicare, so I signed up for an Advantage plan with a provider that has hearing aid coverage through TruHearing. I picked the plan with lower co-pays ($499 for Advanced and $799 for Premium) than their basic Medicare plan. I got a name of a local Truhearing provider, and visited them before I started on the plan for a free evaluation. They did a new hearing test and confirmed the hearing loss (results attached). The audiologist said that the Truhearing Premium 19 that I can get with my coverage would be good for my needs, including the tinnitus.
Before doing anything, I decided to check with the audiologist who originally diagnosed me to see what she thought and to see if she was also in TruHearing, so I could use her instead and it turns out that she is, She had my old test results and told me “I do not have the software for TruHearing private label hearing aids. They have hearing aids from other companies that I can get for you but they will cost more and be better quality.” With my coverage, getting a different brand is not an option, so if I do not want to get one of the Truhearing models, I need to wait until I can switch insurance in 2021.
I am wondering if people here think that the TruHearing Premium 19 for $799 is actually a good solution for my needs (including the tinnitus masking) or if I should look into a different Medicare Advantage plan for 2021 with different coverage. I tried to look at the hearing aid options available with United Healthcare, but they did not have a list of co-pays or different models they cover, just a very wide range of co-pays ($375-2000 I believe). If anyone is familiar with how their coverage compares to what I have with TruHearing, that would also be useful.
Thanks in advance for your help!