Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Government Turns Its Back On Hearing Impaired
Government Turns Its Back On Hearing Impaired And Eldery With Acc Changes
The New Zealand Audiological Society is accusing the Government of turning its back on thousands of people whose hearing has been damaged at work with its planned ACC changes.
“Bringing in an arbitrary threshold of hearing loss before people can receive help for hearing aids is unfair and unjustified,” says Lesley Hindmarsh, President of the New Zealand Audiological Society.
The Government’s ACC changes include a threshold of a six percent hearing loss before a person may be entitled for assistance for hearing devices
“We estimate many thousands of people with occupational hearing loss – particularly M ? ori, the elderly and people needing replacement hearing aids, who were entitled to ACC help for their hearing aids previously may now be left with nothing,” says Mrs Hindmarsh.
“People with hearing loss have significant needs. The Government is sending these people a message that their needs aren’t worth anything, and a poor quality of life for them and their families is acceptable.
“It is worth noting that M?ori are significantly underrepresented in successful ACC hearing loss claims despite being over represented in occupations traditionally associated with noise exposure. Introducing a hearing loss threshold will only make this worse. This policy also discriminates against older first-time claimants due to outdated adjustments to percentage hearing loss attributed to aging.” says Mrs Hindmarsh.
The NZAS had been working with ACC on this issue, and is disappointed at the proposed law changes. ACC has not been able to tell the NZAS what the expected savings from this change would be.
“We are urging the ACC Minister, the Government and other political parties to remove this section of the proposals. While some changes may be necessary, moving from a needs based approach to a threshold based one for people with hearing impairment is unacceptable.
The New Zealand Audiological
Society is the professional organisation representing
qualified Audiologists and audiology in New Zealand.
ENDS
Gordon Campbell: On The Royal Commission’s Fine-tuning Of Vaccine Mandates And Lockdowns
NZDF: Details From Interim Court Of Inquiry Report Into HMNZS Manawanui Incident Released
Land Air Water Aotearoa: Ambitious Nationwide Initiative To Track And Share Actions To Improve Freshwater
NZ Government: Chemical Weapons And Iranian Missiles Targeted In New Russia Sanctions
Ministry For Culture And Heritage: Reverberations Of Erebus Disaster Still Felt 45 Years Later
Watercare Services: No Cause For Concern After Slightly Elevated Levels Of Arsenic Detected In Treated Waikato River Water
Te Pāti Māori: Government’s First Year A ‘Catastrophe For Māori’
