ACC can cover some hearing losses and hearing aids for patients who meet certain criteria.

If you have worked for more than 10 years in a noisy environment in New Zealand and have a notched high-pitch hearing loss, we may be able to apply to ACC for funding on your behalf. We can see if you are eligible in our Diagnostic Hearing Test and Hearing Aid Discussion appointments.

ACC are quite strict, so we can’t apply unless you meet the exact criteria (and even then, they can still decline the claim).

What can ACC cover?

For those that are accepted, ACC can give between $3100 – $5200 towards hearing devices every six years. They also cover costs that go towards hearing aid maintenance over the lifetime of the devices:

On-site appointments and consumables (HL20).

Twice within a calendar year, ACC can pay $62.64 for appointments with an audiologist, or hearing aid consumables like filters, domes or a new speaker wire. In total that is $125.28 per year. These do not stack, so if you don’t use them, you lose them.

Off-site repairs (HL21).

If your hearing aids are outside of their warranty, ACC can pay $250.57 per device every two years towards repairs or manufacturer’s maintenance.

Ear moulds (HL30 & HL31).

If your ear has changed shape or you require new ear moulds for your hearing aids, ACC can contribute up to $155.24 towards these.

Earwax removal (RN10).

This one can get confusing, and trips people up a lot. ACC does not cover earwax removal in total in any situation. They only cover $20.48 up to four times per year, and this is ONLY when done by a Registered Nurse who is an accredited ACC provider. This means that everyone who books for an earwax removal will incur a surcharge for this service. The only exception to this is if you are seeing an audiologist for hearing aid servicing and the appointment includes earwax removal as well as hearing testing, and we can claim an onsite (#1 above) instead.

How can I use ACC funding?

In our patient management system, we keep track of all ACC patients’ entitlements so we will always know what is available for you. If you are transferring to us from elsewhere, we may need to ring ACC and find out what entitlements you have left before we see you.

Below are four examples of common uses of this funding: 

1.

John has hearing aids fitted by Bradi (audiologist) and is seeing us for his annual review of his hearing.

He hasn’t used any extra ACC funding on top of his hearing aids since he was fitted.

John is booked for a WOOF Review ($95). He chooses to use both of his available HL20 (onsite) funds towards this appointment, leaving him $30 left to purchase consumables.

He decides to purchase two packets of hearing aid filters to use up this funding. John now knows he doesn’t have any ACC funding left for another 12 months, so if he needs anything else, he will have to pay in full.

2.

Barb also has hearing aids fitted by Bradi (audiologist) and is seeing us for her annual review of her hearing. 

Barb has quite waxy ears. She has already used one of her onsite charges ($62.64) to purchase 4 packets of wax filters during the year. 

When she books her WOOF Review with Bradi ($95), she will need to pay $32.36 on top of ACC, as she only has one onsite ($62.64) left under ACC. 

That first onsite she used for the filters will roll over and become available again 12 months after she used it, so she can keep using it to purchase filters or domes as she wishes. 

3.

Hugh has hearing aids he purchased through another company, but was so pleased with the earwax removal that our Ear Nurse Emma did, that he has chosen to shift all his audiology care to us.

As Emma is not an audiologist, Hugh knows he has to pay a $30 surcharge for every earwax removal with Emma, on top of the $20.48 that ACC covers.

This is still great, as it’s better than the normal price without any ACC.

4.

However, if Hugh books in with Bradi (audiologist) for a full review of his hearing aids, and she does an earwax removal for him at the same time, he could instead use his two yearly onsite allocations with her to cover the appointment and get some hearing aid filters or domes with the leftover funding as well.

ACC Funded Appointments

A rough guide to ACC-funded appointments and consumables with us*:

  PRIVATE ACC
Initial hearing test and hearing aid discussion $120 $0 (whole appointment is billed to ACC if you are eligible to apply)
Earwax Removal $60 $30 (up to 4 times per year)
Annual WOOF Hearing Aid Review (incl wax removal) $95 $0 – $32.36
Hearing aid filters $15 per packet 4 packets – $0
Hearing aid domes $20 per packet 3 packets – $0
Hearing aid speaker $100 per speaker $0 – $37.36
Hearing aids $780 – $6980 (incl subsidy of $1022.22) $0 – $4950 (depending on which band of funding you were approved for and which hearing aids you choose – there are always fully funded options available)

*This depends on how much funding you have still available.

"Both my wife and I have found dealing with Bishopdale Hearing to be a fantastic experience. The whole team are very friendly, totally professional and their service is second to none. I would thoroughly recommend Bradi and her team to anyone seeking audiology advice. The team at Bishopdale hearing make each visit a very enjoyable experience."
Stewart Shadbolt