Hearing aids routinely cost $2,000 to $6,000 a pair, so whether Medicaid pays for them matters enormously. For children the answer is the same everywhere: yes. For adults it is one of the most uneven benefits in American health coverage. We checked all fifty state Medicaid programs against their own provider manuals, administrative rules and state plans. Twenty-nine states cover hearing aids for adults, five cover them only for specific groups of people, and sixteen do not cover them at all.
The Short Answer
If you are under 21, hearing aids, batteries and cochlear implants are covered in every state. Federal EPSDT rules require it, and no state can opt out.
If you are 21 or over, hearing aids are an optional benefit that each state decides for itself. Your state either covers them or it does not, and neighbouring states often disagree. Pennsylvania covers nothing for adults while New York next door covers binaural aids with prior approval. North Carolina covers nothing while South Carolina covers adults only on two specific waivers.
Adult Hearing Aid Coverage in All 50 States
Each state name below links to the state document the entry is based on. Rules change, and several of these programs were amended within the past two years, so use this to know what to ask for and confirm the current detail with your plan before you buy.
| State | Adults 21+ | Main limit |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Not covered | Under 21 only |
| Alaska | Covered | Prescription required; one replacement of a lost aid per 3 years |
| Arizona | Not covered | Excluded by state statute; adult cochlear implants added 2025, aids were not |
| Arkansas | Not covered | Under 21 only; adult audiology services still covered |
| California | Covered | $1,510 per fiscal year, exceedable for medical necessity; prior auth required |
| Colorado | Not covered | Exams covered only with a concurrent medical condition |
| Connecticut | Covered | One pair every 3 years; no blanket prior auth |
| Delaware | Not covered | Under 21 only; one managed care plan offers aids as an extra benefit |
| Florida | Covered | One per ear every 3 years; moderate loss or greater; no prior auth within limits |
| Georgia | Not covered | No first aid at 21+, but repairs and replacements continue if you got one before 21 |
| Hawaii | Limited | One ear in practice; binaural and in-the-ear aids generally not covered for adults |
| Idaho | Not covered | Under 21 only; one adult audiometric exam a year still covered |
| Illinois | Covered | No age restriction; prior auth only for replacement within 3 years; binaural allowed |
| Indiana | Covered | Replacement once every 5 years; prior auth required for every purchase |
| Iowa | Limited | One per ear every 4 years on the State Plan, but not on the expansion plan |
| Kansas | Covered | One replacement per 4 years; initial aid needs no prior auth |
| Kentucky | Covered | $1,200 per ear every 36 months; physician referral required |
| Louisiana | Not covered | Under 21 only; one managed care plan adds an adult aid every 2 years |
| Maine | Covered | Every 5 years; state law added coverage for each affected ear from July 2026 |
| Maryland | Covered | Replacement every 5 years; all aids need preauthorization; one or both ears |
| Massachusetts | Covered | One per ear every 60 months without prior auth; binaural fitting allowed |
| Michigan | Covered | One aid, or two binaural, every 5 years; 30 dB threshold; copay may apply |
| Minnesota | Covered | One aid or one binaural set every 5 years; must come from the state contract |
| Mississippi | Not covered | Under 21 only; adults do get cochlear implants and bone-anchored devices |
| Missouri | Limited | Only pregnant women, blind-program participants and nursing facility residents |
| Montana | Covered | Prior auth required; replacement once per 5 years; binaural needs 6 months of monaural use |
| Nebraska | Covered | One per ear every 4 years; prior auth over $501 per aid |
| Nevada | Covered | Once every 24 rolling months; prior auth over $350 per aid |
| New Hampshire | Limited | One ear by default; two ears only with work, school or blindness justification |
| New Jersey | Covered | No time limit; replacement when lost, broken or hearing changes; binaural allowed |
| New Mexico | Covered | One purchase every 4 years; prior auth required; binaural needs school or work reason |
| New York | Covered | 30 dB threshold; most single aids auto-approve; binaural always needs prior approval |
| North Carolina | Not covered | Birth to 20 only; some managed care plans advertise an adult hearing benefit |
| North Dakota | Covered | No replacement before 5 years; 40 dB threshold; binaural added for adults in 2024 |
| Ohio | Covered | One every 4 years, or 5 for digital; prior auth always; set dollar maximums per code |
| Oklahoma | Limited | Evaluation only for most adults; aids covered when provided in a nursing facility |
| Oregon | Covered | Binaural every 5 years; 35 dB in two or more frequencies; prior auth required |
| Pennsylvania | Not covered | Excluded in the state plan for 21+; repairs to an aid you own remain payable |
| Rhode Island | Covered | One every 5 years; prior auth required; second ear needs physician justification |
| South Carolina | Not covered | Except adults on the HASCI or ID/RD waivers; adult cochlear implants are covered |
| South Dakota | Covered | Replacement no sooner than 3 years; 30 dB threshold; binaural allowed |
| Tennessee | Not covered | Hearing services excluded for 21+, including cochlear implants |
| Texas | Covered | One aid every 5 years, one ear only, and you must have loss in both ears to qualify |
| Utah | Not covered | Pregnant members excepted; adult audiology services still covered |
| Vermont | Covered | Guaranteed by state law since 2022; prior auth beyond one per ear every 3 years |
| Virginia | Not covered | Under 21 only; several managed care plans add a $1,500 to $2,000 allowance |
| Washington | Covered | One aid every 5 years; 45 dB threshold; second ear needs prior auth |
| West Virginia | Not covered | Aids, evaluations and fittings all excluded for 21+ |
| Wisconsin | Covered | 5-year expected life for adults; prior auth to purchase; state contract models only |
| Wyoming | Covered | Once every 5 years; 35 dB for one ear; two ears need prior auth |
The Five States Where the Answer Is “Only If”
Five states sit between yes and no, and a plain yes or no would mislead you in each.
Missouri is the one that catches the most people. Missouri expanded Medicaid, so adults assume the hearing benefit came with it. It did not. Missouri covers hearing aids for adults only if you are pregnant, enrolled through a blind-program category, or living in a skilled nursing facility. A Missouri adult living at home on expansion coverage gets nothing.
Iowa splits the same way but along a different line. Hearing aids are covered under the regular State Plan at one per ear every four years, but the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan, which is how most working-age adults get covered, excludes them unless you are 19 or 20 or have been found medically exempt. Which door you came in through decides your answer.
Oklahoma covers the evaluation for adults but not the device, with one exception: if you live in a nursing facility, the aid is paid for through the facility’s rate.
Hawaii and New Hampshire both cover adults, but effectively for one ear. Hawaii restricts binaural aids and in-the-ear styles to special justification. New Hampshire lists binaural aids for adults as non-covered unless you are in school or employment where you could not manage otherwise, or you are legally blind, and it pays only for the least costly aid available.
Rules That Surprise People
Texas covers one ear, and only if both ears qualify. This is the strictest rule in the country and it reads like a contradiction. You must document hearing loss of 35 dB or more in both ears to be eligible, and then Texas pays for a single aid. In the state’s own words to federal regulators, “only one hearing aid will be provided.”
Georgia has a grandfather clause. You cannot get a first hearing aid through Georgia Medicaid at 21 or older. But if you received one before you turned 21, Georgia has covered repairs, replacements and supplies after 21 since July 2023. If you aged out of a childhood aid, you are not starting over.
Three “not covered” states have a managed care back door. Virginia, Delaware and Louisiana exclude adult hearing aids from the state benefit, but individual health plans add them as extras. In Virginia the allowances run from $1,500 to $2,000 a year depending on which Cardinal Care plan you pick, and one plan offers nothing at all. Where your state does not cover aids, which plan you choose during open enrolment may be the whole decision.
North Dakota and Maine both got better recently. North Dakota removed its adult binaural exclusion in April 2024. Maine’s legislature required coverage for each affected ear starting July 2026. If you were told no in either state before those dates, ask again.
Wyoming runs a second, separate programme. The Wyoming Adult Hearing Aid Program is state funded and is specifically for adults who cannot get aids through Medicaid, Medicare or private insurance. It pays up to $3,000 per person over five years for people at or under 200% of the federal poverty level. Do not confuse its $3,000 cap with Medicaid, which has no dollar cap in Wyoming.
Children Are Covered Everywhere
Under EPSDT, every state must cover medically necessary hearing aids, replacement batteries and cochlear implants for enrollees under 21, even where adults get nothing. Children receive hearing screenings at well-child visits and whenever a problem is suspected, and the state must cover the treatment those screenings point to. Several states that exclude adults entirely, including Arkansas, Georgia and Pennsylvania, still provide a full children’s benefit.
Cochlear Implants Follow Different Rules
Cochlear implants are usually treated as a surgical or prosthetic benefit rather than as hearing aids, which means they are often covered where aids are not. Mississippi covers implants for adults 18 and over while excluding adult hearing aids. South Carolina covers adult implants and even waives the usual hearing aid trial requirement. Arizona added adult cochlear implants in October 2025 without adding hearing aids. Tennessee is the notable exception, excluding both. If an implant is a medical option for you, ask about it separately, because the answer may differ from what you were told about aids.
Managed Care Can Change the Answer
Most people on Medicaid are in a managed care plan rather than in the state’s fee-for-service programme, and the state rules above are usually the floor rather than the whole picture. Plans cannot offer less than the state benefit, but they can offer more, and they often run their own prior authorisation process with different paperwork. In Washington, enrollees are required to go through their plan rather than the state. In Tennessee, where the benefit is excluded entirely, the only route is a discretionary approval a plan may grant at its own option. Always ask your plan, not just your state.
How to Check Your Own Benefit
Call the member services number on your Medicaid card and ask four specific questions: whether adult hearing aids are covered, how often you can get one, whether both ears are covered or only one, and whether prior authorisation is required. Then get an audiology evaluation from a Medicaid-enrolled provider, who submits the authorisation request if devices are covered. Bring the audiogram, because nearly every state sets a decibel threshold and the evaluation is what proves you meet it.
If Your State Does Not Cover Adult Hearing Aids
Over-the-counter hearing aids have been available without a prescription since 2022 for mild to moderate loss and cost far less than prescription devices, though several states including Montana and Washington exclude them from coverage where they do pay. Charities including the Miracle-Ear Foundation and local Lions Clubs provide free or low-cost aids. State vocational rehabilitation agencies may pay if hearing loss affects your ability to work, which is a route that exists in every state regardless of what Medicaid covers. Some states run their own non-Medicaid programmes, as Wyoming and Georgia do. Our guide to help with hearing aids covers these in more detail.
Medicaid and Hearing Aids FAQs
Does Medicaid cover hearing aids for adults?
In 29 states, yes. Five states cover them only for specific groups, such as pregnant women or nursing facility residents, and 16 states do not cover them for adults at all. Check the state table above for your state.
Which states do not cover hearing aids for adults?
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia. Several of these still cover adult audiology exams, and some have managed care plans or state-funded programmes that fill the gap.
Does Medicaid cover hearing aids for children?
Yes, in every state. EPSDT requires coverage of medically necessary hearing aids, batteries and cochlear implants for anyone under 21, including in states that cover nothing for adults.
Will Medicaid pay for two hearing aids?
It depends on the state, and this is where the rules are tightest. Texas pays for one aid only. Hawaii and New Hampshire pay for one by default. Washington, New York, Oregon, Wyoming and Rhode Island cover a second ear but require prior authorisation or specific justification. Massachusetts, Florida, Nebraska and Kentucky set their limits per ear, so both ears are routinely covered.
How often can I get new hearing aids on Medicaid?
Most states use a three to five year cycle. Nevada is the shortest at 24 months. Massachusetts is the longest at 60 months. New Jersey sets no time limit and instead replaces an aid when it is lost, broken beyond economic repair, or your hearing changes.
Is there a dollar limit on what Medicaid pays for hearing aids?
Most states have no dollar cap and instead pay a fee schedule amount or the provider’s acquisition cost. Three are explicit exceptions: California caps the benefit at $1,510 per fiscal year, Kentucky at $1,200 per ear every 36 months, and Ohio publishes a maximum for each device code. California’s cap can be exceeded with prior approval for medical necessity.
Usually. Indiana, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon and Rhode Island require it for every purchase. Florida and Illinois do not require it for a first aid within normal limits. Many states require it only above a dollar threshold, such as Nebraska at $501 per aid and Nevada at $350.
Are hearing tests covered even where hearing aids are not?
Often yes. Arkansas, Idaho and Utah all exclude adult hearing aids while still covering audiology services or an annual hearing exam. Colorado covers an adult hearing exam only when there is a concurrent medical condition. West Virginia and Tennessee are stricter and exclude the evaluations along with the devices.
Are hearing aid batteries and repairs covered?
For children, batteries and supplies are covered under EPSDT everywhere. For adults in states that cover aids, batteries are usually covered with a monthly quantity limit, often six per month for one aid and twelve for two. Repairs are commonly covered once or twice a year after the warranty expires, sometimes with a prior authorisation threshold. Several states exclude batteries for people living in nursing facilities because they are already paid for in the facility rate.
What if my state does not cover adult hearing aids?
Compare your managed care plan options first, since some plans add a hearing allowance the state does not provide. Then look at over-the-counter aids for mild to moderate loss, charitable programmes such as the Miracle-Ear Foundation and Lions Clubs, and your state vocational rehabilitation agency if hearing loss affects your work.
