The Treatment Benefit Grant for hearing aids.

Hearing aids can be claimed once every 4 years. The maximum grant available for one hearing aid is €500 for one hearing aid, and €1,000 for two hearing aids.

For further information contact your local Hidden Hearing branch or call our freephone number 1800 370 000.

Information

The Treatment Benefit Scheme is a scheme run by the Department of Social Protection (DSP) that provides dental, optical and aural services to qualified people. The Treatment Benefit Scheme is available to insured workers and retired people who have the required number of PRSI contributions.
Medical card holders are legally entitled to more extensive dental, ophthalmic and aural services from the Health Service Executive (HSE) but, in practice, the availability of these services varies from area to area.

Rules

Contribution conditions

You must have paid Class A, E, P or H social insurance contributions.

The amount of social insurance you need depends on your age.

(1) Aged under 21
If you are aged under 21, you may qualify if you have at least 39 contributions paid at any time.

(2) Aged 21 - 24
Between these ages you may qualify if you have at least 39 contributions paid and

• At least 39 paid or credited in the governing contribution year (2009 is the governing contribution year for claims made in 2011) and 13 paid contributions in a recent contribution year or
• 26 paid contributions in each of the second and third last contribution years. For claims made in 2011, the second last contribution year is 2009 and the third last contribution year is 2008.

(3) Aged 25 - 65
From the age of 25 onwards, you must have at least 260 paid contributions and

• At least 39 paid or credited contributions in the governing contribution year (2009 is the governing contribution year for claims made in 2011) and 13 paid contributions in a recent contribution year or
• 26 paid contributions in each of the second and third last contribution years. For claims made in 2011, the second last contribution year is 2009 and the third last contribution year is 2008.

(4) Aged 66
There are special rules for people aged 66 and over. Basically, you must have 260 contributions paid at any time; you must have 39 paid or credited in any of the two contribution years before reaching age 66 and you must have 13 paid contributions in a recent contribution year (recent to reaching age 66).

There are, however, a number of exceptions to this:

If you reached 66 before 6 July 1992, you do not need 13 recently paid contributions

If you reached age 66 before 1 October 1987, you need 156 paid contributions instead of 260; if you reached 66 between 1 October 1987 and 6 July 1992, you need 208 paid contributions.

If you are in receipt of a State Pension the PRSI contribution requirements vary according to age as follows:

If you satisfy these conditions when you reach pension age, you will remain qualified for life.

Spouse, civil partner or cohabitant
A spouse/civil partner/cohabitant may, of course, qualify in their own right if they have enough social insurance contributions.

If your spouse/civil partner/cohabitant does not have enough social insurance contributions he/she may still qualify for Treatment Benefit on your social insurance record. To do this, you must qualify for Treatment Benefit and your spouse/civil partner/cohabitant must be dependent on you.

Aural Benefit
Hearing aids may be provided by suppliers who have a contract with the Department of Social Protection. The Department pays half the cost of a hearing aid subject to a fixed maximum of €500 for each hearing aid every four years.

You will need to fill out form MA if you are applying for aural services under the Treatment Benefit Scheme (form MA2 if you are a dependent spouse, civil partner or cohabitant). Forms are available from Hidden Hearing or the Treatment Benefit Section.

Contact Treatment Benefit Section at the address below for copies of the forms and more information.

Where to apply:

Treatment Benefit Section
Department of Social Protection
St. Oliver Plunkett Road,
Donegal.
Tel: (074) 916 4480
Locall: 1890 400 400
Homepage: www.welfare.ie

Disclaimer: This article was published with information on the Dept. of Social Welfare website under the Treatment Benefit Scheme. It is up to date as of 20th Feb 2012. Please consult the Dept website for up to date information as we cannot be responsible for any changes in the scheme since publication of this data.