Meet Emma! Emma is a sweet little girl who was born with microtia and aural atresia of her left ear, with varying degrees of bilateral hearing loss. Did I mention that she is also an amazing competitive dancer, enjoys listening to music and carrying on with her friends?
Emma was in need of a hearing device to help her hear better when her family’s insurer denied the coverage for her hearing device. That’s when Emma’s mom, Kathy, reached out to Ear Community for help. Emma’s insurance provider denied coverage for the hearing device she needed, a bone anchored hearing aid, also known as a bone conduction hearing system. Ear Community was able to help Emma with the gift of hearing by donating a gently used Oticon Medical Ponto 3SP! When Emma’s family went to schedule her fitting to have her hearing device programmed, her insurer also denied the audiology programming claim that would program Emma’s hearing device to her hearing loss. Thankfully, Ear Community was able to help Emma again!
Recently, Ear Community launched a new hearing health care reimbursement program for audiologists called Pax’s Ear Fund. Pax’s Ear Fund reimburses audiologists for the fitting/programming fee when the service is denied under CPT code L9900, which is often denied by insurers. Pax’s Ear Fund helps audiologists give the gift of hearing when microtia and atresia patients are denied coverage by their insurers, allowing them to still give the gift of hearing. Most families cannot afford the fitting/programming fee out of pocket when this service is denied.
Today, on March 8th, 2023, Emma, was able to have her Ponto fitting thanks to Pax’s Ear Fund covering the programming fee for her audiologist. Emma is the first recipient to benefit from Pax’s Ear Fund! A special thanks to her audiologist, Dr. Kim Block of Lakeside Audiology in South Carolina, for programming Emma’s Ponto and for being able to help a patient benefit through Ear Community’s new hearing fund!
It is Ear Community’s goal to help as many children and adults to hear their best as much as possible. Pax’s Ear Fund is made possible by a sweet little boy named Pax who was born with microtia and atresia. Pax and his family know how important it is to help provide the gift of hearing to those in need. Ear Community is grateful for Pax’s Ear Fund! Pax’s fund gives Ear Community the opportunity to help give back to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community when helping members of the microtia and atresia community thrive. A special thank you to the William, Jeff and Jennifer Gross Family Foundation for their amazing support to our organization!
For more information on Pax’s Ear Fund, please click here.
All of us at the Ear Community Organization are so happy for Emma to be able to hear her best! We hope you keep dancing and smiling while you hear every sound, never missing a beat, Emma!
Thank you,
Melissa Tumblin
Founder – Executive Director
Ear Community
www.EarCommunity.org
