This report is the first stage of a wider project that aims to develop and implement a system that will provide the Ministry with a cost-effective way of purchasing hearing aids. It will also make access to hearing aids more affordable and equitable for people who need them.
A project team of a procurement specialist, a hearing advisor and a data analyst wrote the report on behalf of the Ministry.The report proposed several options for the purchasing and provision of hearing aids, including:
- Eligibility models – universal eligibility, targeted funding or top-up systems
- Purchase models – tendering from manufacturers or a Ministry price list
- Delivery models for the assessment and fitting of hearing aids – capped price model, schedule of rates model, Needs Assessment model or Assessor/Manufacturer Independence Certification.
Purpose
The purpose of this project is to develop and implement a system that will provide the Ministry of Health with a cost effective way for purchasing hearing aids and to make access to hearing aids more affordable and equitable for people who need them.The purpose of this report is to provide a summary of the data analysis, costing projections for the current schemes and high level discussion regarding future options for the purchasing and provision of hearing aids for all people who are currently eligible for Ministry funded hearing aids.
Key Results
It is recommended the following matrix of components for an alternative framework for the purchase and provision of hearing aids are fully costed:- Eligibility models
- universal eligibility scheme
- targeted funding eligibility scheme
- top up model
- purchase models
- tender for a limited range of hearing aid manufacturers
- Ministry of Health price list (based on the ACC model)
- Delivery models (assessment and fitting)
- capped price model (hearing aid)
- Schedule of rates model (fitting and assessment services)
- Needs Assessment (based on the ACC model)
- Assessor / Manufacturer Independence Certification