Tax Day presents an excellent opportunity to lobby your federal congressional representatives for passage of the Hearing Aid Assistance Tax Credit Act. The bill (H.R. 414) was filed in the House of Representatives by Congressman Jim Ryun (R-KS). It will allow Americans 55 and over and dependents 18 and younger to receive a $500 tax credit per qualified hearing aid once every five years. A companion bill will be filed in the Senate this spring. Congressman Ryun is the legendary runner, a former world-record holder who was the first high schooler in the world to run the mile in under four minutes. He also was afflicted with hearing loss following a bout of measles as a child. He is a passionate advocate for post-natal screening for hearing loss in infants and other measures to support people with disabilities. But he is the furthest thing from a tax-and-spend liberal proposing handouts to special interests. In fact he is a tax-cut warrior and a right-wing, family-values Christian legislator. He would never support a tax increase or a tax credit unless he could make an air-tight argument that the economic benefit would more than offset the cost to taxpayers.
Ryun points out on his official web site that while 95% of individuals with hearing loss could be successfully treated with hearing aids, only 22% (6.35 million Americans) currently use them, according to the most recent ‘MarkeTrak’ report, the largest national consumer survey on hearing loss in America. Forty percent of individuals with hearing loss have incomes of less than $30,000 a year, and hearing aids are not covered by standard health insurance plans. Approximately 1 million children under the age of 18 and around 9.7 million Americans over the age of 54 have a diagnosed hearing loss but are not currently using a hearing aid.
Hearing loss is the most prevalent birth defect in America today, affecting 2-3 infants per 1,000 births. More than 1.2 million children under age 18 have a hearing loss. A child who does not receive early intervention costs schools an additional $420,000. Lifetime costs may reach $1 million for special education, lost wages, and health complications, according to a 1995 study published in the International Journal of Pediatric Otolaryngology. For adults in the workforce, noise-induced hearing loss is the second most self-reported occupational injury. Studies estimate a 50-70 percent reduction in income for workers with untreated hearing loss compared to that received by their hearing peers. Therefore, it is easy to understand the enormous economic benefits of restoring the hearing of young people, who will learn more and become more productive contributors to society as adults (read: higher earners paying more in taxes in the future), as well as current workers who will dramatically increase their earning power (and pay more taxes today).
The tiny amount of tax relief the bill provides for only a segment of the population requiring hearing aids will not solve the problem on its own. However, it will “prime the pump” to jump start a hearing-aid market that is growing far slower than it should, given the steady rise in the percentage of the population afflicted with hearing loss. Alleviating just a portion of the average $1,800 people pay for a pair of hearing aids today will help increase demand for hearing aids, enabling manufacturers to lower their costs through economies of scale with higher manufacturing volumes and through faster investments in lower cost technologies.
Your representatives keep their ears to the ground listening for grass-roots movements that can help them at the polls. Contacting them is easy and makes a bigger difference than you would imagine. So, after you mail your taxes today, blow off some steam. Send your congressional representatives email asking them to support H.R. 414.