The document was prepared for the Advanced Medical Technology Association, which represents medical manufacturers, by the Lewin Group, an independent analytical firm that specializes in health issues. The report finds that as a result of problems in Medicare, thousands of elderly and disabled patients do not have timely access to new technologies when they need them. The Health Care Financing Administration, which operates Medicare, did not have a reaction to the report. The report uses case studies to show the problems with Medicare. It finally took an act of Congress to provide this technology to Medicare patients.
Cochlear implants benefit people with severe hearing loss.
Medicare patients face significant barriers to receiving cochlear implants because Medicare has not updated its inadequate reimbursement for the device for 14 years. Medicare patients have far less access to cochlear implant technology than non-Medicare patients, because of this. More than half of all patients eligible for cochlear implants are on Medicare, but only about 15 percent of the implants are performed on Medicare patients. Medicare often pays the same amount for a new device as for other devices used in a similar manner, even if the new device is more costly. But Medicare has never adjusted its payment level even though the implants have been refined over the past 14 years and are now more costly.