Sound Processor Manufacturer’s WarrantyĪ recipient has a three to five-year warranty after implantation for external parts with all three cochlear implant companies. More than one company informed me they were in the process of considering changes to their warranty plans or bringing back advanced purchase plans. Parents are wise to ask and ask again to verify this information when making decisions about repairs, replacements and purchasing warranties. What do parents need to know about these warranties, replacement and repair costs? Implant manufacturers change these policies regularly. For others with perhaps less of a loss risk, a less expensive repair only plan, or even choosing to pay for repairs and parts as needed without an extended warranty could be options. When the processors are out of warranty, I have personally chosen to purchase an extended warranty plan for repair and loss because I don’t dare not to. I once found one, thankfully magnetized, in a heating vent.Īs you might imagine, we have also needed processor repairs and parts replacements. I have spent many frantic hours searching for lost hearing aids or processors and have found them in many unique places. Families with children who have hearing aids and cochlear implant processors understand the heart-dropping panic upon discovering a device is lost. With the loss of the third processor, I am fairly sure $8,500 was literally flushed down the toilet. The first two were covered under the one-time loss per ear provision. In a two-year period she lost three processors, (is this a record?) despite my increased vigilance. Our younger daughter has a particular talent for permanently losing processors. We have upgraded my oldest daughter’s processors twice now and gone through the process of obtaining extended warranties many times. I had sticker shock when our warranty was up and I discovered what the continued financial costs would be as they grew up for extended warranties and new technology. Our household has two daughters with bilateral cochlear implants. Ed Note: This is an updated version of our article of the same title that ran in The Communicator in the summer of 2010.įamilies with private health insurance face significant out-of-pocket costs after the cochlear implant sound processor warranties expire and a decision must be made to purchase extended warranty coverage or pay for repairs and replacements as needed.
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