In September 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) made Medicare patients with moderate to profound hearing loss in both ears eligible for cochlear implants. This came after the agency's 2019 decision to approve cochlear implants for single-sided deafness. It’s all part of an overall shift in our approach to candidates for these surgically implanted devices.
Once, only people who were essentially deaf and couldn't wear a hearing aid received implants. Now, we're finding that patients who get cochlear implants before their hearing falls (to the 10% to 20% range of clarity) do better because their brain still remembers sounds, which helps them develop speech clarity faster. Now, we recommend patients with 60% clarity discuss with their audiologist or ENT physician about whether a cochlear implant is right for them.