GPCIA News #9 July 2005
CONTENTS
Retreat Overview
Picnic Beckons for Sept. 10
Name of the Game is Advocacy
Who Was That Masked Man?
The 2005 Retreat is (Record) History!
Record attendance capped the Georgia Peach’s annual Cochlear Family Retreat, June 10-12 at Cohutta Lodge atop Fort Mountain near Chatsworth, not far from the Georgia/Tennessee border. There were 221 adults and children participating, breaking the previous record of 201.
Though the site was brushed with winds and “mountain mist” throughout the three days, altering some of the outdoor activities, the educational program came off as scheduled. Former Miss America Heather Whitestone McCallum inspired the audience with a keynote address, parents and children interacted in a successful children’s program, and several sessions helped couples develop new strategies for coping with hearing loss.
The retreat was notable for communication accessibility, which included captioning for plenary sessions, ASL interpreting, and assistive listening devices. More than a dozen exhibitors shared information and technology with participants.
Plans will be forthcoming from the GPCIA Board for the 2006 retreat.
Evaluations chart the retreat
Evaluation forms filled out by retreat participants and summarized by GPCIA board member Ellen Rajtar serve as a yardstick for retreat evaluation. The good and the bad were noted, and will be used to guide the next edition.
Top honors in popularity (rated “excellent” or “very good”) were Heather Whitestone McCallum’s keynote address (99%), the Portfolio workshop (95%),
children’s program (94%), the adult “shared journey” experiences (92%), couples strategy (92%), and insurance reimbursement (91%).
Though many people liked the potential of the mountain-top site (when the weather cleared), the terrain was an accessibility issue – difficult for older people and for wheelchair users.
BELOW
Parents and children have fun creating portfolios in the workshop session on Saturday morning.
BELOW
Mary Rugg (left, standing) of the University of Georgia coaches some of the 50
parents and professionals on structure of the Take A Look At Me portfolio
during the retreat.
Silent Auction
In the past two years retreat participants were treated to a raffle of gifts. This year, the raffle was changed to a silent auction and – presto! – more than $1,200 was raised to help offset retreat expenses.
According to auction coordinator Steve Dirst, some 22 individuals donated gifts. Competition was especially intense for the two “getaway for two” at Cohutta Lodge though other gifts also generated multiple bids.
Donors for the Silent Auction included: Cohutta Lodge, Wachovia, Metro Brokers, Advanced Bionics, Danny Jones, Nancy Gooch, Stevie Dirst, Sharon Darby, Al Laframboise, John Weber, Clare Sullivan, Connie Stratigos, Louise Skalko, Foy Johnston, Dot Landers, Fred Pryor, Cindy Gary, Sheila Adams, Winnie Hargis, Dave Welter, Sandy Holton, and Alice Boyd.
Battery Count
Lamar Landers continues to generate a surprise with his Battery Count contest. Last year two people tied for estimating used CI and hearing aid batteries in a large jug. This year when Lamar finished the count, he reported four people shared the prize.
Taking home awards of $15 each were Mark Gilbert of Alpharetta, Ga.; Esther Miller of Deland, Fla.; Marcy Nader of Atlanta; and Brenda Smith of North Port, Fla.
Portfolio Winner
Parents participating in Mary Rugg’s portfolio session, and the follow-up demonstration session with their children, registered to win a free portfolio prize packet. Winning the packet was Deann Chafin of Douglasville, Ga.
Scavenger Hunt
The challenging assortment of “treasures” on the scavenger hunt list showed creativity by coordinator Stevie Dirst and ingenuity by the winners. Marion Foster and Chelsea Strickland each found all 22 items. Both girls were aided and encouraged by their families, and both participated in the children’s program.
Picnic Beckons for September 10
Next up for Georgia Peach is the annual picnic, scheduled for September 10 at the Rock Ranch, located in middle Georgia between Thomaston and Barnesville. The facility is owned by Chick-fil-A founder S. Truett Cathy. The picnic is a GPCIA/SHHH collaborative function, coordinated and funded through the efforts of SHHH state office director Connie Stratigos. GPCIA and all state SHHH chapter members should participate in this delightful social. (Note: the picnic was announced in the last e-newsletter for Sept. 24; the revised date is Sept. 10.)
Name of the Game is Advocacy
The U.S. health care industry is a $1.7 trillion behemoth, with the majority of people covered by commercial, public, and government health insurance plans. Yet there are people with insurance coverage who are excluded from specific procedures, and up to 75 million people without any health insurance coverage.
According to John McClanahan, director of reimbursement and funding for Cochlear Americas who spoke at the Georgia Peach retreat, cochlear implant reimbursement by insurance carriers is often stymied by politics and advocacy. People qualified for the cochlear implant, and with some health care coverage, may not be cleared for reimbursement for cochlear implant surgery.
Why the difficulty? For one, hearing health is not generally considered to be a medical/health issue by the insurance industry. (Only recently has legislation been presented for a tax credit for hearing aid purchase). In addition, some insurance carriers still view the cochlear implant as “experimental” technology though the procedure has had FDA approval since 1985 and Medicare approval since 1986.
The relatively low volume of cochlear implant surgeries is another factor used by the insurance industry to question reimbursement.
Though 90 percent of 650 commercial health insurance policies cover cochlear implant reimbursement, some approve and then balk at payment – claiming approval was in error. McClanahan notes that the recent trend is to exclude the CI surgery.
McClanahan, and others associated with hearing health issues, emphasize that now is the time for a grass roots advocacy program to educate the health insurance industry on use and success of the cochlear implant. Persistence by CI candidates and their families, their providers, collaborating with the CI manufacturers, will reaffirm the medical necessity of the CI and the long range affect on individual well being.
For more leverage, note the cost of the cochlear implant versus the cost of deafness. McClanahan, quoting national professional groups, cited the awesome facts: Total CI costs: $63,000; average lifetime cost of deafness, $297,000; cost of prelingual deafness, $1,020,000. Prelingual deafness refers to children born with a profound hearing loss or a hearing loss prior to acquired language skills. Without CI intervention, they may face accumulated lifetime costs of $504,900 for special education, $433,400 for lost productivity, $70,200 for medical costs, and $11,500 for vocational rehabilitation. For those children who are qualified for the CI, and have a network of early intervention support, the $63,000 CI cost is a small price for a lifetime of potential benefits.
Who Was That Masked Man?
By Al Laframboise
A popular statistic is that 10 percent of the United States population has a hearing loss. But a close look at that statistic reveals that there is a disparity among age groups. Indeed, the older you are the more likely it is that you will have less than 100 percent of your hearing. Individuals who wear some sort of apparatus, (hearing aid, cochlear implant, or assistive listening device) are aware that they do not possess 100 percent of their hearing. Like it or not there exist many people with hearing loss who do not know what they are missing.
I would like to reduce the amount of stress that occurs to individuals in a hospital operating room. Now if you are due for an operation and you know that you lack proper hearing, it is expected that you will inform every doctor, nurse, and anyone else within range that once everyone dons a mask you will not have the slightest idea of what they are saying. You may not even know if they are saying anything.
Being informed, most of these people will prove that they are thoughtful of your problem. I am speaking also for those individuals who will not be aware that they have a hearing loss until everyone puts a mask on in the operating room. The problem with a lack of communication in such an environment is that everyone is left to their imagination.
Picture yourself as the nurse leans over and makes her mask move. You know she has spoken. What has she said? Perhaps your imagination leads you to believe that she has just informed you that they are going to start the operation even though you are conscious. This sort of thinking can do so much to your stress level that you may want to scream.
What is a good solution that will work for everyone regardless of hearing level? Simple signs placed in front of the patient to inform them what is being communicated seem to be the answer. For example, a sign that reads ‘WE ARE GOING TO START THE IV NOW’ will not make you think that the operation will proceed prior to your being unconscious.
Will you now join me and work toward informing the hospitals near you that this would greatly reduce the stress level of every patient in an operating room? Maybe, just maybe, we can achieve a satisfactory result. And afterward, we will not say, ‘Who was that masked man?’
Al Laframboise is a GPCIA member from Augusta. This article was first published in a recent issue of the national SHHH’s on-line newsletter.
Georgia Peach Cochlear Implant Association
PO Box 1172, Tucker, GA 30085-1172