Insurance Claim Denial Lawyers for Loss of Hearing

Hearing loss can be devastating to someone’s ability to perform their job and perform their activities of daily life.  Hearing is an essential aspect of communication, both inside the workplace and out.  For a person to lose that ability to communicate can be disastrous and can often lead to serious and disabling issues, such as depression.  It is not difficult to see how such a loss would disable someone from doing their job effectively.

Three Types of Hearing Loss

There are generally three types of hearing loss:

  • Sensorineural Hearing Loss
  • Conductive Hearing Loss
  • Mixed Hearing Loss

Sensorineural hearing loss results from damage to your inner ear structures or your auditory nerves.  

Conductive hearing loss occurs when the pathway for sound to travel from the outer ear and middle ear to the inner ear is blocked, or when the ear drum or middle ear bones are not functioning properly.  

Mixed hearing loss is a mix of sensorineural and conductive hearing loss.

Causes of Hearing Loss

There are many causes of hearing loss, including:

  • Concussions
  • Traumatic Brain Injuries
  • Genetic Factors
  • Ménière’s Disease
  • Inner Ear Infections
  • Damage to the Ear Drum
  • Tumors 
  • Abnormal Bone Growth
  • Tinnitus

Hearing loss can be permanent, temporary, or come and go.  Many people, insurance companies included, believe that hearing aids can return someone to their “normal” level of hearing, much like prescription glasses can give many people back perfect eyesight.  Unfortunately, the reality is that this is not the case.  Hearing aids, including ones as advanced as cochlear implants, only help to give back as much hearing as possible, but what they do provide is far from perfect.  Even with hearing aids being utilized with positive results, many people still cannot function in situations with significant background noise.

Insurance companies will often deny long-term disability for hearing loss by alleging there is no objective basis of the loss, or that a person can still perform their employment duties even if your doctor says otherwise.  

If you are suffering from a hearing loss disability and your long-term disability claim has been denied, call the lawyers at Taylor & Blair LLP today.