Quebec's hearing aid plan for seniors only covers 1 ear. Critics are calling for change
CBC
Seniors experiencing hearing loss in Quebec are calling on the province to reverse a long-standing policy that compensates them for only one hearing aid, even if they need two — one for each ear.
"It's an insult. It's really not fair, and I think it should stop. It should be that you're allowed to have two hearing aids," Martha Perusse, a 71-year-old with hearing loss, told CBC in an interview.
For decades, Quebec's health insurance board, the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ), has covered the cost of two hearing aids — one for each ear — for children 18 and under, adults who need hearing aids for their studies or work and people who are also visually impaired.
But for anyone else — mainly seniors and unemployed adults — the RAMQ only covers the cost of one hearing aid, even when someone requires them for both ears.
"How does that make any sense?" Marina Souranis, an NDG resident who wears hearing aids and who's set to retire next month, told CBC in an interview.
Souranis has used hearing aids since she started experiencing hearing loss in her 30s.
One for each ear was always covered by the government.
Now she'll see her coverage reduced to covering the cost of just one hearing aid when she retires.
"It's bizarre. Instead of giving you things when you retire, they take things away," Souranis said.
Perusse says "it was like a slap in the face" when she realized she wasn't going to have two hearing aids covered.
She ended up paying out of her own pocket so she could have a hearing aid for each ear. But she wasn't happy about it.
"I had done good work all my life and I was continuing to do good work as a volunteer," Perusse said.
"I think people our age should still be considered valuable members of society."
Quebec's order of hearing aid specialists, the Ordre des audioprothésistes du Québec (OAQ), and Hear Quebec, an advocacy group for people living with hearing loss that serves primarily Quebec's anglophone community, are calling on the province to cover the cost of two hearing aids for everyone who needs them.
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