HEARING AID COST CUT HEAVILY BY STATE PROVISION

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22824, 20 December 1948, Page 6

HEARING AID COST CUT HEAVILY BY STATE PROVISION

“By the end of this week 200 hearing aids will have been issued by the Cook Hospital Board, free of charge to recipients, as a result of the newer provisions of the Social Security Act. The cost of these appliances will be from £l2 to £ls each, plus the extra cost of setting up the clinic for testing and fitting of the aids; but this cost will be offset by the social and economic rehabilitation benefits to the users, their families. friends and co-workers.” stated Mr. J. Hardie-Neil. consulting otologist to the Cook Hospital Board, on Saturday.

“The cost of 200 aids at Hie average price of £45, at which hearing aids were sold prior to the inauguration of the State scheme, would have been £9000,” continued the consultant. “The price paid to the New Zealand contractor for the equipment, at £ls per issue, will be £3OOO. The aids previously imported from the United States cost £25 before they left America. The Government aid contains Americanmade parts to the value of only two dollars. Moreover, the New Zealandmade aids carry the New Zealand standard mark, which should ensure quality, efficiency and suitability for use with the batteries now made in this country.

Saving Effected

“By the end of this year, a total of 5700 aids will have been issued by the Health Department through the lmspitals in the various clinic centres in New Zealand. At a cost of £45 each, these would have involved an outlay of £256,000, whereas the cost under the Government scheme will be £85,000 a saving of £117,000 or over three-quar-ters of a million dollars.

“As a result of the representations of the New Zealand League for the Hard of Hearing, battery costs have been reduced by half. There is now a selection of 15 types of aids available to the recipients of the New Zealand issue, with a guarantee of service for 12 months without the cost of a penny to the recipient apart from that due to the effects of negligence or ill-usage. “In regard to patients trying out various brands or models of aids to find one to suit them, this practice lias been outmoded or outdated by the new light thrown on the problem by the latest scientific data. Formerly 90 per cent of technicians in the aid-supply process were employed in making and assembling the 28 constituent parts of the aid. Now 55 per cent of these technicians have their duties restricted to testing by costly and delicate instruments to sec that every essential component is flawless. The final testing of the New Zealand Government aid is very mcticulous, the result being the invariable satisfaction and gratitude expressed by the users.

Testing of Batleries

“At the Cook Hospital clinic a battery tester will be available which will show by exact measurement the present strength of a cell or battery and its sufficiency for further service. “The Gisborne branch ol the League for the Hard of Hearing will commence shortly to teach lip-reading, the classes being scheduled to start in rcbruary, 1949. Of over 3000 servicemen ■who were being rehabilitated as icgards their hearing disabilities, occasioned by war service, 95 per cent were able to "get satisfactory service from hearing aids; but they all stressed the necessity of learning lip-reading, as it gave such clues when listening to speakers that they could assimilate 90 per cent of what the speakers said. The hearing aid alone gave them about 00 per cent assimilation.

“The Gisborne branch of the league has as its president Dr. Cedric Isaac,' with Mr. A. Blackburn as the secretary, and the executive will welcome the opportunity to give all users of hearing; aids training to get the best results j from their appliances. The executive ■ will provide the lip-reading instruction, and branch membership will have the additional heartening association and fellowship which is a great source 01 social and economic happiness.