Hearing News Watch

WEST PALM BEACH, FL—The fate of HearUSA, one of the nation’s largest and oldest networks of audiology practices, remained up in the air this week following the West Palm Beach-based company’s voluntary filing under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code. Acting under section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code, HearUSA announced on May 16 that it had named William Demant

NASHVILLE–Tennessee has joined the growing number of states that are requiring private insurers to provide coverage for hearing aids for children.  Last week, Governor Bill Haslam signed legislation requiring  insurance policies to cover up to $1000 per individual hearing aid per ear, every three years, for any child covered as a dependent by the policy holder. Sen. Doug Overbey, a

DENVER–Cochlear Americas (www.cochlearamericas.com) has announced  that it has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to put its its Cochlear™ Baha 3 Power Sound Processor on the market in the U.S. The programmable bone-conduction system is often prescribed for children and adults with conductive hearing loss, mixed hearing loss, or single-sided sensorineural deafness. The new processor uses

HAVANA-Cuba will begin international marketing of new screening equipment for detection of newborn hearing loss. The announcement was made May 20 at  the 5th Latin American Congress on Biomedical Engineering held in Havana. The system, including software, was developed by Cuba’s Neuronic Enterprise.  

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND–More than 600 million people worldwide suffer from hearing loss, but only 1 in 40 of them will ever have the opportunity to wear a hearing aid, according to recent estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO). That is largely because 70% of those with moderate to severe hearing impairment live in developing countries, where hearing healthcare is a

LONDON—Speakers from Asius Technologies of Longmont, CO, reported their findings at the 130th Audio Engineering Society Convention on the cause of “listener fatigue” that some people experience when using hearing aids, in-ear headphones, and other devices that seal the ear canal. In addition, Stephen Ambrose, Robert Schulein, and Samuel Gido described new approaches to reduce the condition, which can cause

ATLANTA–A year after the Georgia State Legislature repealed legislation that had exempted hearing aids from sales tax, Governor Nathan Deal signed a bill that immediately reinstated the tax exemption. The new bill also applied to some other medical devices and medications. Helping galvanize support for restoring the tax exemption for hearing aids was the Georgia Society of Hearing Professionals. The

CHICAGO—The Journal of the American Academy of Audiology announced its Editor’s Awards during AudiologyNOW! 2011, held here in April. The honors, which recognize members of the JAAA editorial board for outstanding contributions to the peer review of the journal, went to Holly Hosford-Dunn, PhD, and David A. Preves, PhD. Preves, who in 2009 received AAA’s Samuel F. Lybarger Award for

WASHINGTON, DC–With a pair of hearing aids costing anywhere from $2000 to $7000, it’s no wonder that many hearing-impaired people feel they can’t afford them. That’s why AARP Bulletin asked Cathie Gandel to write about how to get a good buy on hearing aids. The article, which appeared in the May 1 issue (go to www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-05-2011/paying-for-hearing-aids.html for the full article),

OTTAWA–When it comes to providing its citizens with healthcare coverage, Canada has generally gone far beyond the United States. For example, its publicly funded health system ensures that all Canadians have access to free medical care. However, universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS), which  the U.S. introduced more than a decade ago, does not yet exist in most of its northern