Research and development cost of cochlear implant
The research and development of cochlear implant must be supported by the state. The research and development of cochlear implant needs a complete cochlear implant research and development team, which must cover experts in all fields and be led by experts who understand the whole system. Such a team is definitely not cheap, and because the research and development cycle is particularly long, the cost of independent research and development by ordinary enterprises is far behind in front of various patents. Judging from the cost of cochlear research and development, although governments will inevitably invest in subdivided medical fields, compared with other conventional medical fields, the cost level of investing in cutting-edge artificial organs is completely different. Therefore, the research and development cost of cochlear implant is particularly high. Cochlear implant, as a common commodity, will be constantly updated, which also requires constant research and development costs.
Production and manufacturing cost of cochlear implant
Cochlear implant, as a simulated artificial organ, is divided into two parts: in vitro and in vivo. The material selection requirements of all parts are extremely high. Most of these raw materials need the world's top suppliers to provide. For the requirements of extracorporeal machine, it should save electricity, be durable and waterproof. This has high requirements for all accessories and manufacturing processes such as batteries, connecting wires, external machine casings, etc. However, in vivo implantation requires extremely high sealing, safety and biocompatibility, even worse than in vitro. Both materials and manufacturing involve a large number of patents and technology monopolies. So the cost of making cochlear implants is quite high.
Cochlear implant sales cost
Cochlear implants in China are basically not directly supplied by cochlear implant manufacturers to the medical insurance system of hospitals. A new cochlear implant product needs a lot of market cost from birth, to free trial, and then to someone willing to use it. In fact, any product will have this link, which is inevitable. In addition to setting up distribution centers in various places, manufacturers also need to contact a large number of agents and secondary agents. The retail channels of cochlear implants are mainly major hospitals, the most important of which is the chief physician of the top three hospitals. In all aspects of circulation, the existence of cochlear intermediary is inevitable, so it itself increases the price cost. Secondly, the product needs a lot of publicity expenses of product introduction to form word of mouth, and the expenses of bright and dark sales channels in the later period are also huge.
Import cochlea value-added tax
Cochlear implant import 17% VAT. If you buy cochlear implants abroad in Hongkong and Taiwan Province Province, you can save the money. If you choose to plant abroad, there will be additional surgical expenses, which are generally 50 thousand cases abroad. If you take it back to China and choose to implant it, even if the surgeon and the hospital agree to operate on you, the later after-sales and maintenance will be quite troublesome. Once there is a problem, cochlear buyers will not be able to solve it in time. Therefore, combined with travel expenses, the cost of surgery is even higher than that in China. Many parents of hearing-impaired children who don't know the inside story take their children abroad to have cochlear implants in order to save money, which is actually meaningless in terms of cost.
To sum up, the high price of imported cochlear implants is almost inevitable, and the high price of domestic cochlear implants is about 80 thousand. Although there are free cochlear implant assistance projects in China, few people benefit from them. Hearing-impaired families also need the help of Huaxia Fu Cong Fund, Aida and other public welfare organizations, especially the self-funded cochlear implant group, and the large amount of assistance from Huaxia Fu Cong Fund and other public welfare organizations may be what they need most.