Longitudinal Trends in Medicaid Hearing Aid Coverage for Adults in the United States: 2003-2023

The purpose of this study was to create a database of Medicaid fee-for-service hearing aid coverage policies for adults over 20 years old from 2003 to 2023 and quantify yearly averages of the share of beneficiaries living with hearing aid coverage benefits.

No immediate change to clinical protocols is indicated, but audiologists treating Medicaid patients should be aware that coverage eligibility varies widely by state and has shifted substantially over the past two decades — check current state-specific Medicaid policies when counseling patients on funding options.

Understanding two decades of Medicaid hearing aid coverage trends helps advocates, policymakers, and clinicians identify gaps in access for low-income adults with hearing loss and target reform efforts.

1. 01Study tracked Medicaid fee-for-service hearing aid coverage policies across all U.S. states from 2003 to 2023.
2. 02A 20-year longitudinal policy database was constructed — a methodological contribution in itself.
3. 03Coverage policies vary substantially by state, creating unequal access to hearing aids for low-income adults.
4. 04Yearly trends in coverage expansions and reductions were quantified across the full two-decade period.
5. 05Published in the American Journal of Audiology, providing a peer-reviewed, nationally scoped evidence base.

PMID

42172530

DOI

10.1044/2026_AJA-25-00204.

Journal

American Journal of Audiology

Publication type

research_article

Evidence level

2b

Population

U.S. state Medicaid fee-for-service programs covering adults

Intervention

Longitudinal tracking of Medicaid hearing aid coverage policies across all 50 U.S. states

Comparator

Year-over-year and state-over-state policy comparisons within the same dataset