UnitedHealthcare Hearing Aids: Copays, Caps and Plan Counts

How many UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage plans include hearing aids

Our UnitedHealthcare group is every 2026 plan whose parent organization in the CMS enrollment file is UnitedHealth Group. We then counted its contract-plan segments in the Plan Benefit Package files. Employer-only plans and PACE are out; special needs plans are in.

• 846 segments, from 806 distinct contract-plans.
• 828 of them, 97.9%, list prescription hearing aids as a mandatory supplemental benefit.
• 99.3% list a routine hearing exam, and 837 file a $0 minimum copay for it.
• 97.5% carry an over-the-counter hearing aid benefit as well.

The few segments without the aid flag are not proof that those members get nothing. CMS lets plans sell optional hearing packages on top, and we did not read those.

Copay per aid plus a two-year cap on both ears

UnitedHealthcare filings use two levers at once: what the member pays per aid, and how much the plan spends over a period.

• Copays: 825 segments report a minimum copay per aid. The median minimum is $199; the median maximum is $1,249. Each median comes from its own list of filings, so they do not describe a single plan's spread.
• Both ears combined, every two years: 194 segments file a cap, median $2,200.
• Per ear, every three years: 3 segments, too few for a median.

The cap marks where the plan stops paying in that window. It is a limit on plan spending, not the shelf price of a device. We report it on the basis CMS records, so a two-year amount for two ears stays a two-year amount for two ears. A segment with no cap on file has not promised unlimited payment.

Georgia, Mississippi and Massachusetts break the $199 pattern

Across most states, UnitedHealthcare's median minimum copay sits at the same $199. The differences show up in three places: a lower copay, a larger cap, or fewer segments with the aid flag. A segment that serves several states counts in each.

• Georgia: 20 segments. The median minimum copay falls to $0, and 10 segments carry a both-ears cap with a median of $1,850.
• Mississippi: 12 segments. The median cap reaches $2,500 across 5 segments, the highest state median in the table.
• California: 43 segments, with a median cap of $1,500 across 6.
• Massachusetts: 17 segments, of which 58.8% carry the aid flag and 88.2% the routine exam flag.
• Maryland: 10 segments; 70% carry the aid flag, and the median minimum copay is $0.
• Connecticut and Wyoming: median minimum copay $99.50.

Texas files the most UnitedHealthcare segments, 90, and 94.4% of them carry the aid flag.

AARP-branded plans in these counts

AARP-branded Medicare Advantage plans are insurance plans. They enter our count only where CMS lists UnitedHealth Group as the parent. The file gives no AARP-only subset, so no figure on this page is an AARP figure.

What these UnitedHealthcare figures leave out

• Brands and catalog prices. The CMS fields we read hold amounts, ear bases and periods, not manufacturer names or retail prices. A storefront catalog is not a plan's coverage terms.
• Members. Segments are counted once each, whatever their enrollment.
• Employer and individual coverage. UnitedHealthcare job-based and individual policies are outside the Medicare Advantage file.
• Optional packages. Add-on hearing riders were not read.

Original Medicare and the other routes

Medicare.gov states that Medicare doesn't cover hearing aids or exams for fitting hearing aids. Some Medicare Advantage plans (Part C) offer extra benefits that Original Medicare doesn't cover, hearing among them, and Medicare.gov tells readers to contact the plan for more information.

To compare UnitedHealthcare with every other carrier, see Medicare Advantage hearing aid coverage. For employer and individual policies, see hearing aid insurance by state. Two other carriers: Humana and Blue Cross Blue Shield.