Hearing Care Benefit Plan Today, more than ever, good hearing is becoming more and more essential in our business and personal lives. The increased pace at which we work and live causes others to demand rapid and accurate communication. Unfortunately, over 28 million Americans have hearing loss of sufficient degree that their daily communication is effected. Most of this loss is not treatable medically. The good news, however, is that the advanced technology and miniature size of today’s hearing aids has revolutionized their use and acceptance by all ages of people. With a thorough evaluation and professional fitting by a licensed audiologist, modern hearing aids improve hearing while being comfortable and unnoticed. What is the Hearing Care Benefit Plan? The HCBP is a hearing health care program that is committed to providing the highest quality Audiological services and products to employees and their families at substantially reduced costs. What is the purpose of the HCBP? At a time when employers are faced with continually rising health care costs and reduced benefits, the Hearing Care Benefit Plan enables companies to give their workers a health care benefit at cost to the company or with an optional self-determined company contribution. How is the plan made available to the employees? Employees are generally made aware of the plan by their Human Resources Department or representative. Brochures explaining the plan are provided to employees as a supplement to their health care package. Are there any administrative or management costs to the company? No. The audiologist who provides the hearing care services and products also manage the Plan, thus eliminating “middle man” administrative fees.  Who pays for the Audiological services & products available through the HCBP? The employee or other covered family members pay for these services and products at process substantially lower than are available anywhere for the same quality services and products.  However, if the employer elects to cover a self-determined amount over a given time period (i.e. $500.00 over 3 years), then the employee’s cost for any service or product is reduced by that amount.  What about the quality of the services & products? State licensed audiologists provide all Audiological services. Only the highest quality hearing aids manufactured by such leading companies as Starkey, Widex, Argosy, Siemens, Phonak, Danavox, and other respected manufacturers are provided. Who is covered by the Plan? All employees, their family and even close relatives (if accompanied by the employee) receive the savings on services and products. If the company contributes to the plan, only the employee him/herself is covered unless otherwise specified by the employer. What services & products are provided under the HCBP? ·        Comprehensive audio logic evaluations including pure tone & word recognition tests. ·        Acoustic Immittance testing: Tympanometry and Acoustic Audiological testing for children. ·        Audio logic testing for children ·        Conditioned play audiometry and Identification audiometry. ·        Examination of the ear canal and ear drum ·        Hearing Aids-all styles and state of the art technology including programmable, digital and completely in the canal. ·        Assistive Listening Devices such as TV listening systems, telephone and other amplifiers. ·        Hearing Aid repairs (all brands). ·        Other products such as custom swim and noise plugs, ear molds, batteries, and more. In summary, what are the advantages of the HCBP for the company & it’s employees? ·        Employees feel positive about a benefit plan providing substantial savings on personal or family hearing care needs. This is especially true when purchasing the popular high tech (and higher cost)  programming and deep canal hearing aids that are revolutionizing hearing aid use today. ·        Many health insurance plans do not cover audiology services or hearing aids at all. ·        The HCBP often makes up for reduced benefits and continually increasing costs to employees for their overall health insurance. ·        There is no cost to the company except when an employer contribution is chosen.