Local governments across China are moving to incorporate cochlear implants into their public health insurance schemes, as authorities try to reduce the cost of health care for local residents.

In August, the southern island province of Hainan became the latest region to extend coverage to cochlear implant surgery. In total, more than 10 provincial-level regions, such as Shanghai and the neighboring province of Zhejiang, now include the procedure in their local insurance programs, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday.

The moves promise to be a game-changer for China’s Deaf community. The country has over 27 million people living with hearing loss, but many have been unable to receive cochlear implant surgery due to its prohibitively high cost.

Cochlear implants are widely acknowledged to be the most effective treatment for hearing loss, but the procedure typically costs well over 300,000 yuan ($42 million). Without insurance, it is simply too much for the vast majority of patients to afford.

A report by the research firm Insight and Info estimated that 7.4 million people in China are eligible to receive cochlear implants. However, only 50,000 — or around 0.68% — have had them fitted.

But this could soon change as more local authorities extend their public health insurance coverage. Hainan’s policy change, for example, has raised reimbursements for cochlear implants from 30,000 yuan to 450,000 yuan, bringing down costs for patients dramatically.

Xiao, a mother from eastern China’s Zhejiang province, took her 10-month-old son to receive a cochlear implant in Shanghai last month. Chen Chen was born with congenital hearing loss, said Xiao, who gave only her surname for privacy reasons.

The total cost of the treatment was more than 550,000 yuan, but thanks to the insurance payout, Xiao’s family was only required to pay 100,000 yuan. If it hadn’t been for the change of policy, it would have been impossible for Chen Chen to undergo the procedure, she said.

“We’re just an ordinary family, we wouldn’t have been able to afford it without the insurance policy — the cost is incredibly high,” Xiao told Sixth Tone. “We’re really grateful.”

More than 170 cochlear implant surgeries have reportedly been performed in neighboring Jiangxi since the province incorporated the procedure into its public insurance scheme last year. Around 90% of the patients who have benefitted from the reimbursements have been low-income households, a physician at Jiangxi Children’s Hospital told local media.

Ren Songming, 32, told Sixth Tone that undergoing cochlear implant surgery had transformed his life. Affected by severe hearing loss, Ren spent years relying on hearing aids and lip reading to communicate, making life a daily struggle.

“For years, I had to just analyze situations, picking up a few words here and there, and trying to piece together conversations,” he recalled.

During the pandemic, when mask-wearing became common, things became even more difficult. Communication for Ren became almost impossible, which pushed him to pay for the expensive implant surgery.

“I’d tried a higher-power hearing aid, but it still didn’t work,” he said. “At that time, the procedure wasn’t covered by insurance.”

The push to make cochlear implants more accessible is part of a wider effort by Chinese authorities to reduce health care costs. The central government has introduced a series of policies to develop the domestic production of artificial organs. It is also working to expand its procurement of cutting-edge drugs and medical equipment.

“Going forward, health care insurance departments will vigorously expand and improve the quality of centralized drug procurement, continually increasing coverage,” said Yan Qinghui, deputy director of the National Healthcare Security Administration.

(Header image: VCG)