What is the cost or economic impact
associated with hearing loss?
Many people with hearing loss need long-term
services. The average lifetime cost for one person with hearing loss is
estimated to be $417,000 (in 2003 dollars). This represents costs over and
above those experienced by a person who does not have a disability.
It is estimated that the lifetime costs for all people with hearing loss who were born in
2000 will total $2.1 billion (in 2003 dollars). These costs include both direct and indirect costs. Direct medical costs,
such as doctor visits, prescription drugs, and inpatient hospital stays,
make up 6% of these costs. Direct nonmedical expenses, such as home
modifications and special education, make up 30% of the
costs. Indirect costs, which include the value of lost wages when a person
cannot work or is limited in the amount or type of work he or
she can do, make up 63% of the costs.
These estimates do not include other expenses, such as
hospital outpatient visits, sign language interpreters, and family
out-of-pocket expenses. The actual economic costs of hearing loss are,
therefore, even higher than what is reported here.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Economic
costs associated with mental retardation, cerebral palsy, hearing loss, and
vision impairment --- United States, 2003. MMWR 2004;53:57-9. [Read
this article on economic costs]
Honeycutt AA, Grosse SD, Dunlap LJ, Schendel DE, Chen
H, Brann E, al Homsi G. Economic costs of mental retardation, cerebral
palsy, hearing loss, and vision impairment. In: Altman BM, Barnartt SN,
Hendershot GE, Larson SA, editors. Using survey data to study disability:
results from the National Health Interview Survey on Disability. Research
in social science and disability, volume 3. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 2003. p.
207-28.
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Date: October 29, 2004
Content source: National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental
Disabilities