Ironically, most insurance companies will not pay the cost of hearing and speech services or hearing aids, only the test to determine hearing loss, and hearing aid costs range from $3,000 to $6,000 per pair. Since 1981, the Hearing and Speech Foundation has helped provide the Gift of Sound to those in need in East Tennesse through our hearing aid assistance program. The Foundation assists over 700 people in 27 East Tennessee counties obtain the services they need to live in a hearing world by providing the financial support for hearing aids and services.

Need for Services
In the U.S. alone, over 30 million people are affected by varying degrees of hearing loss. Communication can become difficult. In some cases, adults with hearing loss face losing their job; children do not develop their communication in a timely manner; and the elderly become depressed and withdraw from society. The need for our hearing aid assistance program is evident in the amount of patients we currently serve and those on our waitlist.

Tennessee has one of the highest household poverty rates in the United States and many people in East Tennessee, with or without insurance, are unable to afford hearing and speech services. Because the cost of hearing aids is so high, many people living on a fixed income are unable to afford the assistance they need in order to improve their quality of life.

According to the 2011 Federal Poverty Guidelines, poverty level for a four-person household is $22,050. If one person in that family needs hearing aids, they would spend 16 percent of their total annual income just on hearing aids. And that does not even include the Audiological visits, earmolds and batteries for the aids. For a one-person household, poverty level is $10,830, which means they would have to spend 32 percent of their total income on hearing aids.

Counties served by HSF: