Source: MIL-OSI Submissions
Record numbers of profoundly deaf adults are waiting to have their hearing – and lives – restored by a cochlear implant, but the Government is yet to deliver on its promised funding increase.
Labour’s pre-election health policy included investing an extra $28 million (over four years) toward adult cochlear implants. If implemented, an additional 80 adults each year would receive access to this life-changing technology.
At its current level, New Zealand’s adult cochlear implant funding is one of the lowest in the OECD[1].
Waiting list numbers have now reached an all-time high, prompting the Southern and Northern Cochlear Implant Programmes to call on the Government to urgently fulfil its funding promise.
As Southern Cochlear Implant Programme (SCIP) chief executive Neil Heslop says, “The queue is now so long that adults joining the waiting list are unlikely to make it to the top of the list during their lifetime. People are dying before they get the chance to receive this life-changing technology.
“Many people are so desperate that they are trying to find their own money for the $50,000 procedure, using retirement funds, re-mortgaging houses and selling businesses.
“We urge Minister of Health Andrew Little to acknowledge the plight of hundreds of adults who continue to languish in a silent prison, and put the promised funding to good use. New Zealanders shouldn’t have to buy their hearing back.”
Just 40 adults nationally receive public funding for a cochlear implant every year. Today, there are 269 eligible adults on the waiting list. By the end of the year this number is expected to increase by 40 percent.
For the seventh consecutive year there has been no additional funding to address the growing backlog and demand. Cochlear implants are not covered by health insurance; either you are one of the 20 percent lucky enough to be funded, or you pay $50,000 to have the procedure privately.
“Do we fund the person depressed and suicidal, or the person blind as well as deaf? Do we fund the parent looking after a dependent child (who they can’t hear), or the main income earner facing redundancy or lay-off? These are decisions that we should never have to make.”
Those on the waiting list range in age from early 20s to late eighties. Occupations include nurses, engineers, teachers, bankers, butchers, farmers, factory workers, highway maintenance, business owners and retail workers.
“They can’t work, they are unable to hear their children’s voices, and are isolated in their own homes because they can’t communicate,” says Neil. “Previously part of New Zealand’s productive workforce, many are now reliant on benefits. A cochlear implant is the only thing that can end their silence.”
Northern Cochlear Implant Programme chief executive Lee Schoushkoff says the adults currently on the waiting list face the prospect of never hearing again, unless the Government delivers on its funding promise.
“Apart from occasional one-off boosts over the years, there has been no known and sustained out-year funding to give those waiting not just the ability to plan, but also to give hope that one day they will hear again.”
The onset of total and permanent deafness can happen to anyone at any point, adds Neil.
Both providers acknowledge that the financial effects of the unprecedented Covid-19 pandemic will likely impact the Government’s planned health investments.
“We appreciate that certain areas will need to take priority over others,” says Lee. “However, the Government spends hundreds of millions of dollars on other elective services, but little more than eight million a year on cochlear implant surgery.
“We remain hopeful that the Government acknowledges the urgency of our situation, and follows through on its long-awaited promise to make this life-changing technology available to more New Zealanders.”
This Thursday, 25 February is International Cochlear Implant Day. The annual event celebrates the life-changing impact of cochlear implant technology – which has helped hundreds of thousands of profoundly deaf people worldwide.
THE FACTS ON COCHLEAR IMPLANTS
· A cochlear implant is a surgically-implanted electronic device that restores hearing for those with profound hearing loss.
· Cochlear implants in New Zealand are not covered by health insurance.
· Five referrals are received for every funded adult cochlear implant, and only 20 percent of patients are in a position to self-fund.
· Most people on the waiting list were not born deaf – they lost their hearing as adults. The onset of total and permanent deafness can happen to anyone at any point.
· Hearing aids become ineffective when the hearing loss is more than severe. Communication through spoken language becomes impossible. A cochlear implant is the last and only viable treatment that will restore hearing.
FUNDING HISTORY
· Public funding for adult cochlear implants in New Zealand first became available in 2003. However, this consisted of irregular, one-off surgeries (there was no set allocation).
· An initial permanent base level of 20 adult cochlear implants per year was implemented in 2007. This was increased in 2013, to the current allocation of 40 adult cochlear implants per year. There has been no further increase in base-level funding since 2013.
· A one-off increase of $6.5 million for an extra 60 adult cochlear implants was provided in 2017/18, after a 26,000 signature petition was presented to Parliament.
· Based on current funding levels, New Zealand’s national cochlear implant programme represents just 0.04 percent of the entire health budget. Therefore, it is comparatively a very small spend for a significant impact.
· Government funding for children is currently meeting demand.
