Launched in 2022, Birdsong Hearing Benefits is setting up its headquarters in Jacksonville to provide supplemental hearing benefits to commercial plans and Medicare Advantage programs.
Birdsong is building-out 25,255 square feet of space on the 10th floor of Building 100 at 9000 Southside Blvd., the Bank of America complex called Gramercy Woods.
Jacksonville-based Emerald C’s Development Inc. is the contractor for the $334,215 project. RBD Design Associates, also based in Jacksonville, is the architect.
“The site selection was done in 2021 for the quality of life, the vibrancy of the business community, having a great quality of life and feeling like it was a good environment to grow, live and have a business,” said Birdsong Chief Experience Officer Daniel Klug.
Klug said in August that Birdsong had two dozen employees and hoped to grow that to more than 100 employees.
He said employees are working in temporary offices and remotely and most likely will be back in the office by early November.
“This is a good central location,” Klug said, referring to San Marco, Jacksonville Beach and St. Augustine.
He said Birdsong worked with a site selector to identify a location.
Birdsong is a hearing benefits management company that works with health insurance plans and employer and union groups to focus on the hearing side of health care, Klug said.
President and CEO Sharon Fletcher said in a May 23, 2022, news release announcing the headquarters that more than 48 million people in the U.S. have hearing loss.
It cited a 2021 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association poll that found 51% of all adults reported having hearing problems but only 11% sought treatment.
The release said hearing loss increases the risk of falls and leads to a sense of social isolation “and can ultimately have a negative impact on mental health as well as cognitive decline.”
Fletcher said those affected with hearing loss begin to notice signs in their early 50s, “yet few receive treatment.”
Birdsong said in the release that its hearing benefits will help people, especially those in Medicare Advantage.
Medicare Advantage Plans, sometimes called “Part C” or “MA Plans,” are offered by Medicare-approved private companies that must follow rules set by Medicare.
Hearing benefits are an increasingly important supplemental offering that continues to gain attention, Birdsong said.
“It is common practice for Medicare Advantage and other health plans to offer a benefits package to its members that includes medical, dental, and vision coverage,” said the release.
It said a preventive and a full-treatment hearing benefit is underused today.
Klug said Birdsong advocates for preventive care so people can start necessary hearing care before they reach retirement age.
He said Birdsong can help people become proactive “in helping people get that hearing test, check their hearing, augment it with a device to improve their hearing and slow down or negate some of the other related health issues.”
Birdsong, whose website is birdsonghearing.com, said in the release that its hearing benefits close the gaps in care through early hearing loss detection and intervention.
It said that without a supplemental hearing benefit, people with hearing loss rarely seek early, proactive care. Birdsong wants to increase the number of people who annually visit a hearing provider.
