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