Delaware Medicaid covers hearing aids for both kids and adults through its managed care plans — Highmark Health Options, for example, lists adult hearing exams and hearing aids among its extra covered benefits. For private insurance, state law currently requires coverage only for dependents under 24 ($1,000 per aid per ear every 3 years), though a bill pending in 2026 would expand that to full-cost coverage for more people. Low-income seniors 65+ can also get hearing help at little to no cost through Nemours SeniorCare.
By Lilly Seay · Updated July 2026
Adult hearing aid coverage is delivered through Delaware's Diamond State Health Plan Medicaid managed care organizations (AmeriHealth Caritas Delaware, Highmark Health Options, Delaware First Health). Highmark Health Options lists extra adult coverage 'for vision care and hearing exams and aids' — its member materials describe a routine hearing exam plus one hearing aid per ear every 2 calendar years with no copay — and national surveys (Health Affairs 2025) count Delaware among states with adult Medicaid hearing aid coverage without age/facility restrictions. Prior-authorization and replacement details vary by MCO, so members should confirm specifics with their plan.
Federal EPSDT law (42 U.S.C. § 1396d(r)(4)) requires every state — Delaware included — to cover hearing aids for Medicaid-enrolled children under 21 at no cost to the family. Children under 21 get medically necessary hearing aids, exams, and fittings under EPSDT through the same managed care plans. Delaware's CHIP program is the Delaware Healthy Children Program (DHCP), a low-cost option for uninsured kids in families over Medicaid income limits; families apply through Delaware ASSIST (assist.dhss.delaware.gov).
Since Jan 1, 2009, state-regulated individual and group plans must cover up to $1,000 per hearing aid, per ear, every 3 years for covered dependents under age 24 (insurers may require a prescription; batteries, cords, and assistive listening devices like FM systems are excluded, and families can pay the difference for a costlier aid). Two expansion bills are in play: SB 117 (introduced May 2025, full-cost pediatric coverage under 24) has been stalled in committee since May 1, 2025, and SB 269 (introduced April 2026, replaced by Senate Substitute 1 on May 20, 2026) would require full-cost coverage of at least one hearing aid per ear every 3 years plus annual earmolds and cochlear implants — all ages on individual policies, dependents under 26 on group and state-employee plans — but neither had become law as of July 2026. ERISA self-funded plans are exempt.
Statute: 18 Del. C. §§ 3357 and 3571A
Remember: state mandates only reach state-regulated ("fully insured") plans. Self-funded employer plans — covering about two-thirds of insured workers — are exempt under federal ERISA law. One question to HR settles which kind you have.
Delaware residents mainly encounter three marketplace carriers for 2026 — Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware, AmeriHealth Caritas, and Centene's Ambetter Health (Celtic) — after Aetna's exit at the end of 2025, while Medicaid runs through three managed care plans (Highmark Health Options, AmeriHealth Caritas Delaware, and Delaware First Health) that all cover adult hearing aids. Highmark, UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, and Humana are the main Medicare Advantage options.
One of three carriers selling 2026 marketplace plans in Delaware, plus four Medicare Advantage plans averaging 4.0 stars. Its state-regulated plans must cover hearing aids for dependents under 24 ($1,000 per aid per ear every 3 years) under Delaware's mandate.
Highmark's Delaware Medicaid plan, which lists extra adult coverage for hearing exams and hearing aids — member materials describe a routine hearing exam plus one hearing aid per ear every 2 calendar years with no copay. Prior authorization details are set by the plan, so confirm before scheduling a fitting.
Serves Diamond State Health Plan Medicaid members and also sells 2026 marketplace plans in Delaware. Adult Medicaid members get hearing aid coverage through the plan, though prior-authorization and replacement rules vary by MCO — call member services to confirm specifics.
Centene's Delaware Medicaid managed care plan, one of the three MCOs delivering the state's adult and child hearing aid benefit. Coverage details like prior authorization and replacement intervals vary by plan, so check your member handbook.
Centene's marketplace brand, sold in Delaware through its Celtic Insurance entity, is one of the three 2026 exchange carriers. As a state-regulated plan it must follow Delaware's hearing aid mandate for dependents under 24.
Exited Delaware's ACA marketplace at the end of 2025 along with all its other marketplace states, but still offers Medicare Advantage plans in Delaware. Hearing aid benefits vary by plan, so check the Evidence of Coverage.
Offers five Medicare Advantage plans in Delaware averaging 4.0 stars, with hearing benefits typically delivered through the UnitedHealthcare Hearing network. Humana also sells MA plans in the state. Specific allowances vary by plan.
Yes. Delaware Medicaid covers hearing aids for adults as well as children, delivered through the state's three Diamond State Health Plan managed care organizations: Highmark Health Options, AmeriHealth Caritas Delaware, and Delaware First Health. Highmark Health Options, for example, lists adult hearing exams and hearing aids among its covered benefits — its member materials describe a routine hearing exam plus one hearing aid per ear every 2 calendar years with no copay. Prior-authorization and replacement rules vary by plan, so call the member services number on your Medicaid card to confirm exactly how your MCO handles hearing aids before you schedule a fitting.
Only for young people, and only partially. Since 2009, Delaware law (18 Del. C. §§ 3357 and 3571A) has required state-regulated individual and group plans to cover up to $1,000 per hearing aid, per ear, every 3 years for covered dependents under age 24. Insurers may require a prescription; batteries, cords, and FM systems are excluded, and families can pay the difference for a costlier aid. Two expansion bills are pending — SB 269 would require full-cost coverage of at least one aid per ear every 3 years plus earmolds and cochlear implants — but neither had become law as of July 2026. Self-funded ERISA plans are exempt.
Several doors are open. If you qualify for Medicaid, hearing aids are covered for both adults and kids through your managed care plan. Low-income seniors 65 and older can get hearing help at little to no cost through Nemours SeniorCare. If hearing loss is affecting your ability to work, the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation at the Delaware Department of Labor may help pay for hearing aids. And the Delaware Assistive Technology Initiative (DATI) lets you borrow and try assistive listening devices before you buy. For insured families, remember dependents under 24 get up to $1,000 per aid per ear every 3 years under state law.
Possibly — two bills are in play, but neither has passed yet. SB 117, introduced in May 2025, would require full-cost pediatric coverage for those under 24, but it has been stalled in committee since May 2025. SB 269, introduced in April 2026 and replaced by Senate Substitute 1 that May, goes further: it would require full-cost coverage of at least one hearing aid per ear every 3 years, plus annual earmolds and cochlear implants — for all ages on individual policies and dependents under 26 on group and state-employee plans. As of July 2026, neither had become law, so today's $1,000 under-24 mandate still applies.
All three of Delaware's Medicaid managed care plans — Highmark Health Options, AmeriHealth Caritas Delaware, and Delaware First Health — cover hearing aids for adults and children, so you won't lose the benefit whichever plan you're in. Highmark Health Options publishes the clearest specifics: member materials describe a routine hearing exam plus one hearing aid per ear every 2 calendar years with no copay. The other plans' prior-authorization and replacement details vary, so the best move is to call your plan's member services line and ask exactly what's covered, how often you can replace aids, and which audiologists are in network near you.
While you sort out coverage, the Hearing Buddy app gives you live captions on your phone — free, instantly.