The Government's desperation to save money from ACC is becoming farcical, with new plans to slash ACC cover for people with hearing loss described as ill-thought through and unjustified.

"The latest plans to cut ACC for people with noise induced hearing loss put the boot in again to people with hearing loss, and reveal the Government is quite happy to alienate tens of thousands of New Zealanders, many of them elderly," says Lesley Hindmarsh, President of the New Zealand Audiological Society.

Reports with recommendations to Cabinet from the ACC Minister include cuts to funding for ACC cover depending on the proportion of a person's hearing loss deemed not to be an injury. ACC claims this will save $75 million.

"These changes will mean thousands of people with noise induced hearing loss will not be able to afford hearing aids, leaving them to suffer without help for their hearing loss," says Mrs Hindmarsh.

The New Zealand Audiological Society is extremely concerned about the quality of data and information being provided to the Government.

"ACC claims these latest changes will save $75 million, however it is only paying $55 million to $65 million a year in total ACC claims for hearing loss now. It doesn't add up," says Mrs Hindmarsh.

"The lid has already been put on the cost to ACC through the work of a ground breaking Accord between the hearing industry and ACC. ACC's numbers provided to the Minister are outdated and don't reflect the savings from the Accord work."

Growth in the total cost of hearing related claims has only risen by 3.6 percent a year in the last three years and hearing aid prices have dropped by almost a quarter (22 percent) in the past two years. In fact the cost per claim has declined.

Hearing loss claims have risen because more people are being diagnosed with noise induced hearing loss.

"The increase in costs to ACC reflects previous ill guided cost savings within ACC and the Department of Labour who have failed to enforce occupational health and safety standards concerning noise in the workplace.

"Noise-induced hearing loss is an entirely preventable disease. Working on prevention of noise induced hearing loss will have more impact on the costs to the scheme, than penalising individuals who have been injured already through no fault of their own," says Mrs Hindmarsh.

When people are assessed for ACC they already go through a rigorous process with 42 percent of claims turned down. Adjustments are already made for factors other than the noise induced hearing loss, including age.

"Crunching numbers - many of which are completely wrong in the first place - is not the answer to keeping control of ACC costs for hearing loss claims. Working with the industry to continue to save money and focussing on prevention is a more pragmatic, constructive approach that will reduce the impact on New Zealanders suffering from the impact of hearing loss."

The New Zealand Audiological Society is the professional organisation representing qualified Audiologists and Audiology in New Zealand.