WASHINGTON, DC — After being live for less than a week, the Hearing Aid Tax Credit Web site had already generated over 3,000 letters to Members of Congress in support of the Hearing Aid Tax Credit. The site also motivated 30 Californians to send personal letters to Sen Barbara Boxer (D-CA) who subsequently co-sponsored S1410. Since then, those numbers have been surpassed in states like Florida, Kentucky, Georgia, and Indiana. In addition, Rep Anna Eshoo (D-CA-14) co-sponsored HR 2329, bringing the totals to 81 in the House and 9 in the Senate.
Here are some features of the WRITE CONGRESS NOW section of the Web site:
1. By entering name, address, and zip code the individual’s correct Senators and Representative are identified and targeted.
2. The individual has the option of personalizing the letter or using our form letter on the site.
3. The individual is strongly encouraged to personalize the letter since a personal statement is much more powerful then the form letter.
4. The individual can print the letters or email them.
5. A thank you letter is automatically sent to the letter writer’s e-mail address.
6. If the Senator or Representative is already a co-sponsor of the bill a thank you letter will be sent to them.
7. The individual can e-mail up to 10 friends about the bill with a push of a button.
Visit the Web site and supporting the bill by visiting http://www.hearingaidtaxcredit.org/.
SOURCE: BHI
Related Articles
New Web Site for Hearing Aid Tax Credit Launched by BHI. May 1 2008 HR The Insider.
Tax Credit Bill Gains Support of 85 Legislators. April 18, 2008 HR The Insider.
Hearing On the Hill 07 Wrap-Up: Hearing Aid Assistance Tax Credit Act Introduced in Both Houses of Congress. May 31, 2007 HR The Insider.
MONTREAL—A new study, led by researchers at The Montreal Children's Hospital (MCH) of the MUHC, has revealed that certain over-the-counter earwax softeners can cause severe inflammation and damage to the eardrum and inner ear. The results of the study, recently published in The Laryngoscope, suggest that use of these medications should be discouraged.
"Patients often complain that wax is blocking their ears and is causing discomfort and sometimes deafness," says Dr. Sam Daniel, principal investigator of the study and director of McGill Auditory Sciences Laboratory at The Children's. "Over-the-counter earwax softeners are used to breakup and disperse this excess wax. However, the effects of these medications on the cells of the ear had not been thoroughly analyzed."
"Because some of these products are readily available to the public without a consultation with or prescription from a physician, it is important to make sure they are safe to use,” says Dr. Daniel. “Our study shows that in a well-established animal model, one such product, Cerumenex, is in fact, toxic to the cells of the ear.”
Dr. Daniel and his team studied the impact of Cerumenex on hearing. In addition, overall toxicity in the outer ear and changes in the nerve cells of the inner ear were analyzed.
"Harmful effects to many of the cells were observed after only one dose," says Dr. Melvin Schloss co-author and MCH Director of Otolaryngology. "We observed reduced hearing, severe inflammation, and lesions to the nerve cells."
"We believe these findings are applicable to humans," add Dr. Daniel. "The animal model we chose has been widely used to test toxicity. In addition, this model has a very similar hearing mechanism. Overall, our findings suggest that Cerumenex has a toxic potential and it should be used with caution."
The Montreal Children's Hospital is the pediatric teaching hospital of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). The institution is a leader in the care and treatment of sick infants, children, and adolescents from across Quebec. The Montreal Children's Hospital provides a high level and broad scope of health care services, and provides ultra specialized care in many fields including: cardiology and cardiac surgery; neurology and neurosurgery, traumatology; genetic research; psychiatry and child development and musculoskeletal conditions, including orthopedics and rheumatology. Fully bilingual and multicultural, the institution respectfully serves an increasingly diverse community in more than 50 languages. www.thechildren.com
Sergei Kochkin, Ph.D., Executive Director, Better Hearing Institute, Alexandria, VA
According to the Better Hearing Institute's (BHI) most recent survey of 56,000 households 31.5 million Americans have hearing loss. Hearing loss affects 1 in 10 Americans and 1 in 4 households. While 95% of individuals with hearing loss could be successfully treated with hearing aids, only 23% currently use them. One of the barriers to hearing aid adoption is affordability; 2 out of 3 people ages 55 and above with hearing loss, report that affordability of hearing aids is a key reason for their inability to treat their hearing loss.
Recent bills in the house (HR 2329 — introduced by Reps. Carolyn McCarthy, NY, and Vern Ehlers, MI) and Senate (S.1410 — introduced by Senator Norm Coleman, MN) if passed could assist up to 1.2 million children and 11.5 million Americans ages 55 and above in treating their hearing loss. These bills provide a tax credit of up to $500 per hearing aid, available once every 5 years, towards the purchase of such hearing aid, available to: 1) individuals age 55 and over, or 2) those purchasing a hearing aid for a dependent. If utilized this equates to approximately a price reduction of 25%-35% on the purchase of hearing aids. Hearing aids are not covered under Medicare, or under the vast majority of state mandated benefits. In fact, 73% of hearing aid purchases involve no third-party payments, placing the entire burden of the hearing aid purchase on the majority of consumers, according to our surveys of the hearing loss population.
Untreated, hearing loss can have many negative consequences. Those who struggle with hearing loss may be subject to subtle or even overt discrimination and be excluded from gatherings, conversations and meetings. The inability to communicate effectively can ultimately lead to frustration, anxiety, social isolation and depression.
Extensive research demonstrates that treatment with modern hearing aids bring measurable improvements in social, emotional, psychological, and physical well being, for both patients and their family members.
The good news is that, with treatment, those suffering even mild hearing loss can gain:
The fact is that better hearing is a critical aspect of effective communication. Hearing is crucial to developing meaningful relationships and the ability to enjoy life, whether it is participating fully in a conversation between friends, or enjoying aesthetic pleasures like music, the leaves rustling in the wind, or the cooing of a child.
Better hearing helps you perform better, whether in business situations or engaging in hobbies or sports — all of life's activities that include a wealth of auditory cues and signals. Better hearing also gives you an enhanced sense of security, and is critical where safety is a concern — for instance when caring for young children.
A Call to Action