Cost-Utility Analysis of the Cochlear Implant in Children

Abstract

Impairment of hair cell function induces profound deafness in approximately 0.3% of children younger than 5 years.^1,2 Cochlear implants may affect the auditory rehabilitation of an estimated 200,000 US children with profound deafness who fail to benefit from conventional hearing aids. Rising health care costs, due in part to advances such as the cochlear implant, have led to pressures that discourage the use of cost-increasing technology. Two thirds of US health care plans cited "no timely cost-effectiveness data" as a barrier to reimbursement.³ Policymakers, third-party payers, and pediatricians have called for more cost-effectiveness data on pediatric cochlear implantation.