Telephone for Hearing Impaired Individual: FSA Eligibility

Revenue Ruling 71-48

What is a telephone for a hearing impaired individual?

Individuals who are deaf or suffer from a hearing impairment will have significant difficulties in operating most standard forms of verbal and auditory communication like telephones. As such, a wide range of products have been developed to give these men and women the ability to speak with loved ones, perform daily tasks and anything else relating to the normal use of a telephone.

Telephones for a hearing impaired individual vary based on the state of a person's auditory disability. For instance, those who are hard of hearing can purchase phones that amplify sound much louder than standard phones to be able to decipher conversations. Additionally, these phones can also be compatible with hearing aids and cochlear implants, so often it's best for hearing impaired individuals to try out and test these devices to find the one that suits their needs (Healthy Hearing).

Those who are deaf are most likely to used captioned phones, a type of telephone for healing impaired individuals that spells out the text being spoken on the other end of the line onto a screen that can be easily read by the user. In addition to physical phones, there are also internet services available that allow hearing impaired individuals to use their internet connections to make calls, and these services will display text on the screen. As long as these products are purchased by account holders with a legitimate hearing impairment, they would be eligible for reimbursement with consumer-directed healthcare accounts.Only the excess cost over a regular telephone is reimbursable, except in the case when the participant would not otherwise have a land line telephone.