Have You Heard? Let Our Doctors Help You Navigate Your Hearing Health Care
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WINTER 2018 Have you Heard? Let our doctors help you navigate your hearing health care Anne Orsene, AuD - Director Jennifer Long, AuD Nicole Baumgartner, AuD HES Jill Bernstein, AuD Jennifer Sutton, AuD Claire McIntosh, AuD CLINICAL Rebecca Witter, AuD Nicole Ball, AuD Kim Dahar, Audiology Resident STAFF Donna Lavallee, AuD Carolyn Yates, AuD Yugandhar Ramakrishna, Audiology Resident Kristina Jackson, AuD Alyssa Beaton, AuD Caitlyn Potter, Audiology Resident consider this Happy New Insurance Year! For many of you, the new year hit the reset button for your insurance plan, or possibly brought you an entirely new insurance plan all together. HES has a dedicated Insurance Specialist whose job is to help you understand the parts of your insurance plan as it relates to any available hearing aid coverage you may be entitled to. On Tuesday, March 6th we will be Happy 2018 from your friends hosting an Insurance Seminar from 11:00am – 2:00pm at at Hearing Evaluation Services! Mangia in Orchard Park. They say that time flies when you are having fun…and it really couldn’t be more true. To learn about your existing plan, a new plan, or find out if you’re eligible for a hearing aid benefit We had another eventful year at HES. Our family has continued to grow, as we welcomed Tiffany Thompson please call 716-768-3533 as our newest Patient Care Coordinator, as well as to reserve your spot with our Insurance three new outstanding Residents from the University Specialist, Valerie Schmidt. at Buffalo; Caitlyn Potter, Yugandar Ramakrishna, and Kimberly Dahar. Continued on page 3 Amherst Williamsville Tonawanda Orchard Park (716) 833-4488 (716) 633-3344 (716) 844-8811 (716) 662-0707 www.HESofBuffalo.org 1 consider this What is an Insurance Deductible? Your deductible is the amount you pay for covered healthcare services before your insurance plan starts to pay. For example, with a $2,000 deductible, you pay the first $2,000 of covered services out of pocket, then your insurance begins to pay. After you meet your deductible, you usually only pay a co-payment or co-insurance for covered services. Your insurance company pays the rest. Hearing aids typically count towards your deductible. • Many plans pay for certain services, Spinning: The Industry Causing like a well visit or disease management program, before you’ve met your Hearing Loss in Young Adults deductible. Check your plan for details. Written by Rebecca Witter, AuD Fall 2016 • All “marketplace” health plans pay the When the coldAmherst weather 716-833-4488 hits Western New York, our workouts are full cost of certain preventive benefits, Tonawanda 716-844-8811 even before you meet your deductible. driven indoorsWilliamsville to gyms, 716-633-3344 heated swimming pools, and spinning studios. YoungOrchard people Park 716-662-0707 increase their risk of hearing loss with the • Some plans have separate deductibles rising popularity of exercise classes offering high calorie workouts for certain services, such as prescription paired with music at dangerously loud levels. HES PROFESSIONAL STAFF drugs.Anne Orsene, AuD - Director Fall into Better Hearing Jill Bernstein, AuD If you or someone you know is hooked on those music-blaring spin • FamilyRebecca plansWitter, AuD often haveBring-a-friend both an (or for other a chance exercise) to classes win and you’re telling yourself “it’s not that individualDonna Lavallee, deductible, AuD which applies to Kristina Jackson, AuD Trans Siberianloud,” Orches think traagain. Tickets Unless you have a sound level meter handy to eachJennifer person, Long, AuD and a family deductible, Jennifer Sutton, AuD take sound pressure level measurements, don’t use your subjective whichNicole applies Ball, AuD to all family members. barometer to determine what’s too loud. We naturally habituate to Carolyn Whitcomb, AuD Nicole Baumgartner, AuD loudness so it’s no wonder why we don’t think twice – once we get a Generally,Alyssa Beaton,plans AuD with lower monthly few minutes into the class, our ears have habituated to the volume premiumsClaire McIntosh,have higherAuD deductibles. Plans Tara Bodziak, Audiology Resident and we don’t feel as bothered as when it first starts. withSean higher Fuster, Audiologymonthly Resident premiums usually have lowerBrianna deductibles. Wojnar, Audiology Resident I’ve also noticed that almost all spinning studios offer hearing HES Support Staff protection which is so great to see. However, what percentage of ThisJoyce information, Kessler – Business plus Manager much Bring more, a includingfriend or loved one in for a hearing test, take- Kristen Orsene – Offce Manager people are actually taking and using those earplugs during class? a fullValerie Schmidtexplanation – Billing Specialist of hearinghome demoprograms with new hearing technology, or both, and andMichelle benefits Sciandra – willBilling Specialistbe coveredbe entered at our intonext our fallNot raffe many. to win The two reason? tickets toHearing see loss isn’t a problem… until it’s Cindy Wasinger a problem. When we’re young we feel invincible – which causes InsuranceJanet Seminar Frampton on Marchthe Trans6th. IfSiberian you Orchestra at Key Bank Center on th have any Tracyquestions, Sacco or needSunday, information December in 4 atus 3:00 to make pm. Ringnot so in smart the holiday decisions about protecting our hearing – Margaret Maurino the meanStephanie time, Hilbert please don’tseason hesitate with to bettercall hearingwhich and leads enjoy to hearing the show loss on as us! an adult sooner than later. our Insurance Specialist at 716-768-3533. IN THIS EDITION... Call 206-3577 to scheduleWe all appointmentsknow someone andwho earnsuffers from hearing loss (or suffer from • Enter For A Chance your entries to see theit ourselves). Trans Siberian We watch Orchestra. this debilitating thing happen to the people To Win Trans Siberian we love and often do very little to mitigate it or make behavioral Orchestra Tickets No purchase necessary. Offer availablechanges for to new prevent or existing it frompatients. happening Must to us. The problem with loud complete appointment for comprehensivemusic is thathearing it generally test (insurance doesn’t copay cause you to feel any physical pain • What Happens To The may apply), no-charge take-home demo, or both by November 30, 2016 Brain When We Have to be eligible for drawing. Winnerwhen to it’sbe announcedtoo loud. and Most contacted of us by bumble along through our young Hearing Loss? December 1, 2016. lives, unknowingly abusing our ears, until one day we’re at a noisy • Honoring Lion social event and realize we can’t understand anyone. But even Tom Reinagel For then we often find that people wait a significantly long time before Humanitarian Efforts taking action on the problem. Continued on page 4 2 www.HESofBuffalo.org www.HESofBuffalo.org Welcome to 2018 cont... HES audiologist, Dr. Carolyn Yates (formerly Whitcomb) got married at the end of 2016 and Dr. Rebecca Witter gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Reese Lillian Witter, in September of 2017! Back in the fall we partnered as the exclusive provider of the “Jim Kelly Experience”. This program offered our patients the “Kelly Tough” brand hearing devices worn and endorsed by Jim himself. We also launched our first television campaign, featuring stories from real HES patients. We would like to once again thank John, Nanette, and Missy for participating in this campaign, and for all of their great work “on set”! This campaign can be found on WGRZ (Channel 2) and on our Youtube channel. Lastly, we were honored by Quota International of Amherst at their Annual Awards Dinner, which recognizes community organizations that impact and serve Western New York. Serving the community is our top priority at HES, and we are proud to be a Hearing Health Champion in Western New York. We have a lot to look forward to in 2018. We will be continually exploring other avenues to advocate hearing healthcare in Western New York through podcasts, television segments, editorials and more. More importantly, we will continue our non-profit mission by improving lives through personal and honest hearing healthcare. Dr. Jill Bernstein once again traveled on a mission trip to Guatemala in February. This will be her 4th trip since 2015, where she visited remote villages and set up a multi-disciplinary clinic to provide hearing health services. These mission trips are with a team of medical professionals, in partnership with an organization called Faith In Practice, which helps coordinate these services for people that may never receive this type of care otherwise. Within her four visits, Dr. Bernstein and the team have helped over 2500 patientsFall 2016 at the various clinics throughout different Amherst 716-833-4488 regions of Guatemala. Tonawanda 716-844-8811 Williamsville 716-633-3344 Orchard Park 716-662-0707 HES PROFESSIONAL STAFF Cold Season and Your Hearing Anne Orsene, AuD - Director Fall into Better Hearing Jill Bernstein, AuD Grab theRebecca tissues, Witter, AuD cuddle up in aBring-a-friend blanket, and perhaps for aska chance your family to to win speak aDonna little Lavallee, louder. AuD Cold and flu season is in full swing, but many people Kristina Jackson, AuD Trans Siberian Orchestra Tickets forget thatJennifer along Long, AuD with the runny nose, sneezing and coughing – your Jennifer Sutton, AuD hearing canNicole Ball,take AuD a hit as well. Carolyn Whitcomb, AuD Nicole Baumgartner, AuD Just likeAlyssa the Beaton, nose AuD and throat, when you get the cold or flu, your ears can buildClaire up McIntosh,