It is not enough to up-vote this post, applause is required. Bravo!
And then in the next breath let me add that through no effort of my own I have an insurance from my employer, even though I am 30 years retired, that supports these practices, pays willingly for outrageous fees and products. If I were required to find and pay for these services my life would have been vastly different.
How many people with hearing loss can build a hearing aid from scratch? Zero. Nobody can.
People assume that the cost of goods equals the cost of parts. Not so. The cost of an Oticon Open includes a lot of tech people and investment people and research and all the rest that isn’t apparent in the finished product. All of that costs money.
MIxing up resentment over immigrants with frustration with hearing aid providers and largely imaginary notions of how highly sophisticated products come to market doesn’t make for good analysis. The whole process is more complex than you think. We don’t begin with Oticon Mores dropping like manna from heaven. Modern aids are the end results of decades of study and refinements. All of that costs money.
We have the most remarkable hearing aids ever in history. HA’s of any sort are a recent development. I’m profoundly grateful for these devices. In the larger scheme of things, their cost is trivial compared to the benefits they provide.
Honestly, I’ve decided to not get into the rage for resentment and grievance that’s so predominant in the U.s. these days. I’m happier for it.
Hi @markk. Well said! Imagine the fight put up in the past by businessmen that make their money providing wagon wheels, whale oil, oil lamps, etc. Guess electricity and transportation changed their livelihood. You always have the options of swimming against a tsunami, surfing it or running. No matter what you choose, its coming.
You don’t need to come to us. Maybe I’m an outlier, but I’m not at all worried about my job if you don’t. You already don’t need to come to us. You can go to the drug store and buy a set of amplifiers shaped like hearing aids for $20. Done. Or you can get a set of ‘high-tech’ PSAPs that will run a hearing test on your phone through an app and autofit with that for a couple hundred–there are a bunch of those. Or you can find a bootleg copy of the software and get an old set of hearing aids from a friend and spend a few hours (or a few dozen like some interested individuals here do) educating yourself on how to fit that. All of that exists right now. Go for it.
And if you’re interested, there are audiologists out there who will HELP you. They will provide the initial diagnostic tests and refer you when appropriate and give you advice on what might be best for you. They will set up the initial fit and confirm, at the very least, that the maximum output of the hearing aid is within a range that will not damage your ears. They will adjust the hearing aids to prescriptive targets to give you the best possible start. They will walk you through the software and answer your questions. They will do the things you can’t do and help you do the things you can do. And yes, those professional services will sometimes cost you some money.
As a contractor, how much time do you spend providing free training on how your clients can do without you? Because I spend a lot of time giving free audiological advice. I would be thrilled never to see patients who are “angry” at me so that I can have more time to see patients who value my services. My schedule is ridiculous right now, anything to lighten it up a bit so that my patients don’t have to wait so long to see me would be a boon.
And that’s why you shouldn’t generalize.
In the US this would likely violate the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.
The FDA does require a prescription to get hearing aids. I find this thread quite entertaining. There is a lot of hostility towards the professionals that have spent well over $100K getting educated to be able to help people hear better. I wonder how much of that hostility would be evident in person instead of being anonymous on a forum. With some of the attitudes I have seen here, if I was still in practice, I would probably ask some of you to leave my office and go elsewhere. Nothing says I have to serve someone I don’t want to. When I was in practice, I asked about a half dozen people to leave. Life is too short to put up with a bunch of BS. On the other hand, if someone really wanted help either with me fitting them or them trying themselves, I would bend over backwards to help them out. So you don’t have to go to a professional, go to ebay or PSAPs or early next year buy an OTC product. You really don’t have to go to the “greedy” audiologist or hearing aid specialist.
Hence the issue with the thread in the first place… 
??? I just want the access to a free market selling the best aids without having to buy from an audiologist. And I don’t want to spend $5,000 for a pair of sometime which is not impressive technologically than any other small electronic device.
And you are comparing this to the wheel? Electricity?, Etc? SMH.
FDA laws do say you need consultation when recieving Aids. They require you to have audoligists to program them, make molds for them, etc. This is why you cannot go out and buy new , top quality aids anywhere online. Please find some for me, I would love to see the link*
FDA Re-authorization Act of 2017 was put forth to allow OVER THE COUNTER Aids.This reduced FDA restrictions allowing more people greater access to Aids without so much consultation. (look it up, this is your first clue that you do, in fact, need a “prescription”) It took 2 years for this law to get going and now we can buy high quality hearing aids online, take an online hearing test, get consultation online, etc etc. It is still not enough. But I think I just made my point. Why would an audiologist support this???
Thank you, you just proved my point. $20 aids??? Seriously? Hearing test on my phone?
I want a free market for Aids, and if I chose to goto an Audiologist so be it, I would need a hearing test for certain, is that $5k? I would also like easy access to make my own molds (yes I can do that to, its not that complex for younger people with hearing loss), reprogram them, etc etc.
You seriously think $5K for Aids is reasonable?
Here comes the Audiologists, trying to take over this thread, ignorant of the obvious high price and exclusivity to top of the line aids. Again, thanks for reinforcing my point.
But like I said before, I know audiologists care, but they also did/do nothing to make the Re-authorization Act happen, which should have happened 20 years ago…
Sorry for the confusion. I fully understand your wishes. I was just trying to point out that timing is everything, an obviously example is selling and buying real estate. What you are hoping to happen is just not going to happen at this particular time. I was not comparing hearing aids to anything. I was just talking about businessmen and their businesses. The hearing aid businessmen and their businesses are at the equivalent time in the hearing aid industry as the businessmen and their businesses were at in the gas lantern business before the arrival of electricity. Probably during that time, consumers were also grousing about “why can I only buy lanterns from Jake’s store?”. All things will pass. Just ignore my post if they don’t make sense or you don’t understand them.
Who are you The Generalization Police?
No. I just feel that generalizations tend to be unfair. But like I’ve said over and over again the op said he wasn’t generalizing. But if you take the time and read the entire thread you’ll see that others disagree with that. You also could be a little friendlier with your comments. If you disagree with anything I say I’m more than willing to discuss it. But to just make a blatantly rude comment is a waste of time.
I agree. I apologize for sounding blatantly rude. I will be friendlier with my comments:
So… Are you the Friendly Generalization Peace Officer?
Buying secondhand or gray market hearing aids plus self-programming brings prices down to what they really should cost.
In the Netherlands there are 5 categories of hearing aids that are refunded by the insurance. Above that are the free-market (vrije veld) top-segment hearing aids. Category 5 typically lags behind 1 to 2 years in comparison to the free-market top-segment.
For a category 5 HA one has to pay about 350€ themselves after refund.
So the 700€ Audeo M90’s that I bought are about twice what Dutch society thinks that I should be paying for a hearing aid.
It’s better than paying 3.5k€ for what they are selling for in the free-market, but it’s double what is thought reasonable in the Netherlands. So no, I don’t think that the price of secondhand market is what they really should be, because its prices will always be dependent on the free market prices.
Thanks for this post. I have worn hearing aids for over 20 years and have encountered some of these things. What I really like about your post is not only are you a savvy consumer but you have learned how to fix somethings yourself! I would like more info on how to do this.
For the first time, I was provided with coverage on my hearing aids through insurance (Anthem and Hearing Care Solutions). It has been a rip off. I only had one provider in my area and the price was so inflated, that with insurance two aids were $2,500. I could have gone to Costco for that price. Also, the audiologist charges $70 per visit to clean, check and adjust the aids (going up to $99). If you want to just have the hearing aid checked and cleaned, you have to drop them off. You cannot wait but they will get to them “when they have time”. That cost is $20 per aid. I am looking for ways to take care of my aids myself and to find used ones next time or a way to save on repairs. In the past, I have been charged $120 restocking fee by audiologists in addition to repair cost. I have fought it (by writing the head of the department both times) and had the fee waived.
I agree with what you have said. It is “buyer beware”. I think the laws need to be strengthened with consumer rights in the hearing industry the same way that it is with automotive repairs.
I would like to add that there is a fogginess about the billing and costs of hearing aids which should be eliminated. With auto repair, more clarity is required in the billing and a consumer can ask to have the old parts back after the repair. Where is the accountability in Audiology? Why can’t I go directly to the manufacturer for my repair? I had Phonak and it needed repair. I called Phonak to find out what they were charging my audiologist and if I could send the aid directly to them. Phonak said they couldn’t tell me the cost of the repair and I had to go through my audiologist who would send the hearing aid to Phonak. Why the secrecy?
If you want more info on self adjusting there is a sub forum here that does busy that :). Under the menu (three lines in the upper right) called hearing aid self fitting and adjusting.