CI wait list

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kimpossible

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When I first decided I'd get a CI just over a month ago, I was told there was an 8 month waiting list. A couple weeks after that when I went to the ENT, he told me the list was a year long. I just went for my hearing test and they say the wait list is now 18 months. I live in B.C., Canada - they apparently don't have enough funding or something along those lines. what the deuce... I'm pissed off entirely! i need to get my family to learn ASL since i'm the only one who knows it and without any signing in the house it's going to be a looong one and a half years.

For those of you with C.I.'s, could you let me know whereabouts you're from (U.S., canada, Australia, UK, or other...) and how long it took you to get yours?? Are C.I.'s covered in the states? When my friend got one eleven years ago, her dad had to pay for it, but I guess it can be covered by insurance?
 
Hello!

Are you trying to get your CI covered by the government? That's probably why the wait list is so long. I don't know how it works in B.C.

I only had to wait a week for mine. However, when I was first considering about it, I needed Medicare Supplement insurance because my Medicare will only pay 80% (which means I would have to come up with $10k to $15k). So, I shopped around and found an insurance that met my needs and they would pay for everything. All I have to do is pay the co-pay of surgery, which is $125. Anyways, when I applied for the insurance in November, I had to wait until January 1, for when it would be effective. First I have to see my regular doctor to get referral to see the surgeon. I waited for 40 mins for him, and I only spoke for 2 min. That was a pain in the ass! Anyways, I saw my surgeon on January 3rd. One week later, I was implanted. For Medicare, it's covered by the government (taxes). I do pay the premiums, which is really nothing.

I'm one of the rare lucky ones. I do have a couple suggestions that "may" help.

One - Find a surgeon that has a private practice, not just cochlear implant, but a broad range of ear issues. My surgeon is an ENT doc, but she specializes in surgery for ears. If I want to another surgeon that was at the same hospital as my audiologist office - it would take 5 to 6 months because it's a teaching hospital and they're booked up for CI all the time.

Two - If you're willing to travel, see if you can get a surgeon some place else in Canada further away, stay there for a week to recover, then come back home then finish up your recovery.

Three - talk to other CIers in Canada and ask around of what's the waiting time - if you find that it's shorter because of insurance, because of private doctors, etc...you're better off trying that method.

Your friend that got it 11 years ago - many people from many years ago had to pay it because insurance companies weren't so sure about CI. It was fairly new technology so they don't really want to "invest" their money into this...kind of like sex reassignment surgery. Nowadays, more insurance companies are realizing the benefits, so CI is covered....however, there's still issues with people who want to go bilateral. It's a whole new cycle again.

*Hugs*
 
Everything Lady said is great.

I have private insurance, blue cross blue shield. It was a long process. I had to first be refered by my family doctor and my ENT to Vanderbilt(they are the only ones in the area that do CI surgery). Then I had to do through the process - doctor visit, CAT, and audie test. Where I differ is I was approved by them in one day. After that filed for approval from insurance, I had to fight for over a year to get my bilateral CI surgery approved. So from start to finish was let me see - 7/2005 referred to surgery 7/2007. So I say you are doing well.


Insurance paid around 90% of surgery until I hit my max of 1,300 out of pocket expenses. Then they paid 100%. I owe only around 947 dollars. I made arrangements for payments and no problems.


I was so frustrated and depressed over all the insurance problems. My doctors where opposite, they were fantastic and communicated with me all the time. I understand your frustration, I hope you can find an answer.
 
Interesting stories. :ty: for sharing LadySekhmet and vallee. ;)
 
Kimpossible, may I ask who told you about 18 month long waiting list?
In December I was told it would normally be one year long, and that word came from an audie at St Paul's hospital.
Some people who are not considered eligible for an MSP-covered CI or do not want to wait too long, go across the border to Seattle and get implanted there, but the cost is around 50000$.
 
wow, great posts! thanks for all that information, it really helped

Assynt said:
Kimpossible, may I ask who told you about 18 month long waiting list?
In December I was told it would normally be one year long, and that word came from an audie at St Paul's hospital.
Some people who are not considered eligible for an MSP-covered CI or do not want to wait too long, go across the border to Seattle and get implanted there, but the cost is around 50000$.
Click to expand...

i go to an audiologist at St. Paul's as well; I can't remember her name as i've only met her once, but it was she who told my mom who told me that the wait list was 18 months. one of the ENTs first told me it was 8 months, then later around the same time in december, dr westerberg said it was a year.

i've considered going across the border but i'm worried about the costs. i think i'll just wait it out... it bums me out though!

but thanks again for the information! :bowdown:
 
Well, I guess this waiting time is just an estimation... Hope it is overly pessimistic and you will get your CI sooner than you expect!
 
kimpossible said:
When I first decided I'd get a CI just over a month ago, I was told there was an 8 month waiting list. A couple weeks after that when I went to the ENT, he told me the list was a year long. I just went for my hearing test and they say the wait list is now 18 months. I live in B.C., Canada - they apparently don't have enough funding or something along those lines. what the deuce... I'm pissed off entirely! i need to get my family to learn ASL since i'm the only one who knows it and without any signing in the house it's going to be a looong one and a half years.

For those of you with C.I.'s, could you let me know whereabouts you're from (U.S., canada, Australia, UK, or other...) and how long it took you to get yours?? Are C.I.'s covered in the states? When my friend got one eleven years ago, her dad had to pay for it, but I guess it can be covered by insurance?
Click to expand...


Hey, I was in Canada (ontario) too for the last 4 years. I know it has been very frustrating to find a reputed place for CI evaluation and surgery, but the only place I was told of was the London Medical Health Center at London, ON. I think they perhaps have the best team in Canada at London. I havent been there yet, because I never got the opportunity to visit London yet, but I moved to Chicago now, and so am surprised that there are almost a dozen CI centers in the city itself!! lol... good luck in your search. I do have some CI contacts in Ontario if you would like to proceed further. :)
 
Hi Kim,

I'm in Australia, where we have a hybrid system with both private and socialised medical care. I already had private cover and after I was approved as a candidate, I waited less than 3 months both times. However, I believe in the socialised medical sector it's about 2 years waiting if you are an adult.

Raykat who posts here is from NZ and she mentioned she has waited 2 years.

Sorry it's such a long wait for you. Hopefully it will be shorter than the estimate?
 
I'm not familiar with CI laws or coverage. Have you walked with an audiologist or doctor?
 
It is my understanding that Canada operates with a universal health care system just like Australia and New Zealand. They have free health care but when it comes to something like a CI or a knee replacement, people have to wait for it. The price having to wait means having everything covered, the surgery, the implant, the mappings, the upgrades, the doctors visits. If you get private insurance that doesn't exactly cover everything, then you are stuck with paying for it. I am hoping that your wait time is much sooner. I know someone who is on a waiting list in New Zealand for 4 years! I can't even imagine that!
 
hugoboss84 said:
Hey, I was in Canada (ontario) too for the last 4 years. I know it has been very frustrating to find a reputed place for CI evaluation and surgery, but the only place I was told of was the London Medical Health Center at London, ON. I think they perhaps have the best team in Canada at London. I havent been there yet, because I never got the opportunity to visit London yet, but I moved to Chicago now, and so am surprised that there are almost a dozen CI centers in the city itself!! lol... good luck in your search. I do have some CI contacts in Ontario if you would like to proceed further. :)
Click to expand...


I was evaluated at Sunnybrook Hospital in toronto... on Bayview street just off the 401. My audiologies said they are the best in Ontario (however it is also the closest place) they get funding for like 200 CI's a year I believe. The wait was rumoured to be 6-8 months. After my assessment was done 2 years ago, I found out later that I missed the tentative date for mine, which was only about 6 months....

so anyway, bottom line, I'm not sure which of those 2 are the biggest and best, but you can certainly check them both out, to see which is in fact the biggest and the best.
 
aaaaaaaaah i got bumped to the top of the wait list!!!
i got a call from the audiologist today, and they told me I can get my CI sometime this summer, between may and august...! i was so happy when I found out. after my hearing test last week they found out my hearing had dropped another 5 dB or so and my speech discrimination went WAY down. (i don't know if that's true though, because the tape that played the phrases I had to repeat wouldn't go any louder after I asked the audiologist to put it on a volume level i was comfortable with. i think my hearing just dropped but my speech discrimination is about the same). well anyway.. i'm stoked!
 
Congratulations, kimpossible!! :kiss:

May your surgery be scheduled ASAP... and wish you all the very best of luck with it!

You mentioned a recent drop in your hearing - could you please post the latest results of your audiogram and speech recognition test? For a person who is still in limbo awaiting the first appointment ever with Dr W, it would be great to know what to expect :bowdown:
 
I'm so thrilled for you, Kim!!! I'm in BC as well, and when I originally went to St Paul's for my CI evaluation, I was told there was a 2-3 year waitlist. I was amazed when a month after my evaluation, they called me back to see if I would be willing to be implanted 2 weeks later and participate in the Freedom clinical trials, so I really lucked out. I'm glad you're getting some of that luck too, and not having to wait 18 months!! I think I've asked you before, but whereabouts in BC are you? Perhaps after you get activated we can meet up!!

I'm heading back over next month - Dr Pijl is doing a music-appreciation study and he asked me to be a part of that (Music plays a HUGE role in my life now) and get my regular yearly re-mapping done.
 
Awesome, congrats!! Best wishes and hope you have a great time with time with the implants!!! It would also be nice if you could post up your experiences on AllDeaf, since there are many others (like me!!) who are considering CI!!
 
thanks!! I'm very thrilled!

Assynt - sure, I think i could do that once I get a copy of the audiogram sent to me. i'll try to keep it in mind! =) good luck with your appointment with Dr W, he's a great doctor and he's operated on me like three times...!

neecy - wow you really lucked out!! good for you! i have two places both in vancouver and north vancouver. hey, I haven't met Dr Pijl yet but I'm supposed to e-mail him about when would be the best time for the surgery and to ask him questions and stuff.

i'm planning on blogging a heck of a lot about my CI experiences after the surgery so i'll try to keep you posted, hugoboss =)
 
With the limited resources of a national health care system my guess is that the young children are getting their implants before adults. I first consulted my center in Feb. then retested about 6 weeks later got approval through my insurance and was implanted the first week in may. This is in the US. I'm not sure how quickly those with medical assistance and other insurance plans get implanted. I was quite happy with my experience. good luck.


kimpossible said:
When I first decided I'd get a CI just over a month ago, I was told there was an 8 month waiting list. A couple weeks after that when I went to the ENT, he told me the list was a year long. I just went for my hearing test and they say the wait list is now 18 months. I live in B.C., Canada - they apparently don't have enough funding or something along those lines. what the deuce... I'm pissed off entirely! i need to get my family to learn ASL since i'm the only one who knows it and without any signing in the house it's going to be a looong one and a half years.

For those of you with C.I.'s, could you let me know whereabouts you're from (U.S., canada, Australia, UK, or other...) and how long it took you to get yours?? Are C.I.'s covered in the states? When my friend got one eleven years ago, her dad had to pay for it, but I guess it can be covered by insurance?
Click to expand...
 
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