I'm doing a little better with a Cochlear Freedom. Granted the processor costs $15,000 out of pocket, but my last one lasted 7 years without problems, and my replacement cost was reduced to about $700 through a government program. Said government program is not reliable - I have to jump on it when the money is available, god help me if my CI fails when the money isn't there.
Batteries are about $500 each and they last at least a year before they start to degrade. Accessories are not only absurdly expensive, but also basically useless, so I don't waste money on them. It could be a lot worse. It could also be a hell of a lot better. I'd like to be able to hear on my left side too, almost badly enough to pay the $50,000 or so out of pocket that it will cost to get the second implant. My main problem is figuring out who to give the money too. Privately-paid health care is more difficult to get than I imagined.
> Batteries are about $500 each and they last at least a year before they start to degrade.
Wow, that sounds killer for me. My batteries are about half that and last the same amount of time; I buy four or five a year since I cycle through them due to my thick skin/skull that causes me to get half the expected life out of them every day...
What about cables/headpieces/earpieces for that?
Is your government program the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, by any chance? I went through them in PA and they were spectacularly flaky... and it wasn't helpful that my liaison was someone I'd known for a while since I was friends with her son and she kept pushing me to "give back" in return for receiving benefits.
No, Canadian here, which explains most of the price difference as well. CAD is weak at the moment. There's a waterproof sleeve thing that you can use for swimming - I believe that was $700. There's a bluetooth dongle that works with my iphone, but it's incredibly frustrating to use, so I mostly don't. That was $350 if I recall. All these things are tax write-offs for me, which is helpful, but I still have to pay out of pocket. It doesn't help much in low-income years, either.
BC Medical tends to get a pile of funding every couple years for CI patients, like 10 million or whatever, and out of that pile they prioritize younger adults who need at least one CI to be able to hold down a job, people whose equipment is starting to fail, etc. If there's any left after everyone who needs one CI or replacement equipment has got what they need, they can offer second implants. They've never gotten that far down the list though.
> BC Medical tends to get a pile of funding every couple years for CI patients, like 10 million or whatever, and out of that pile they prioritize younger adults who need at least one CI to be able to hold down a job, people whose equipment is starting to fail, etc. If there's any left after everyone who needs one CI or replacement equipment has got what they need, they can offer second implants. They've never gotten that far down the list though.
That sounds like a relatively reasonable methodology... I would really like to see the balance sheets of these companies to see how much they're gouging us -- I refuse to believe that what's essentially a condom and plastic tweezers really costs $700.
Batteries are about $500 each and they last at least a year before they start to degrade. Accessories are not only absurdly expensive, but also basically useless, so I don't waste money on them. It could be a lot worse. It could also be a hell of a lot better. I'd like to be able to hear on my left side too, almost badly enough to pay the $50,000 or so out of pocket that it will cost to get the second implant. My main problem is figuring out who to give the money too. Privately-paid health care is more difficult to get than I imagined.