i took my Widex in the ear HA in to a firm for cleaning They said that the HA microphone was broken and I needed new hearing aids. the Widex was 10 years old. I had paid cash for cleaning. Listen Up Canada.
If a set of disposable battery hearing aids and another pair of rechargeable battery hearing aids are lets say 5 years old.
Both pairs are in great shape, function properly.
Both have reached the no more service repair time, out of warranty.
The pair that uses disposable batteries lives on.
The pair that uses rechargeable batteries is pretty much disposable at that point.
Anyway, that’s how I see it. I have owned many pairs of aids that were beyond the warranty repair time that worked great that use disposal batteries. But that’s just me, a poor do it yourselfer.
For what it’s worth. I wear CI rechargable processors and love them. But I also know that Medicare will replace them if they fail or when they get a little old.
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Being out of warranty doesn’t mean the manufacturers won’t provide service. Of course post-warranty, you’ll have to pay out of pocket for repairs of either type of aid. that goes without saying. It certainly doesn’t mean that “rechargeables are disposable”.
I figure that teh money I DON’T spend on replaceable batteries over three years pretty much covers the cost of having new batteries put into my rechargeables, after the warranty has run out. Or to put it another way, I’ll get six years of free battery life before having to shell out $260.00 to have the batteries replaced in my rechargeables.
Meanwhile, disposable battery folks are buying batteries over that same six year period.
I hope you see my point. It’[s essentially a wash in terms of battery costs, for either style, over time.
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Keep in mind that with some rechargeable models including my ReSound Quattros, the battery is completely integrated into the guts of the aid. They can’t and don’t just replace the rechargeable battery when it needs service. They have to replace the inside of the aid when the battery will no longer hold a charge. That means that at whatever point ReSound says, this aid model has reached its end-of-life and we will no longer service the rechargeable battery, when the batteries wear out and will no longer hold a charge, which for any lithium ion battery is going to be around the 3-5 year mark from when those batteries were new, no matter whether you’re using it, recharging it, drying it, whatever… it’s done. You’re out of luck.
So that is a key way in which disposable-battery aids may have a longer lifespan than aids with an integrated rechargeable battery, because you may still be able to get changeable parts such as the receiver for the disposable battery aid. It’s only speculation that this may come sooner than 10 years, but I don’t think it’s wrong to be concerned about it. At some point, ReSound will not have and likely will not make backup aids in stock for a model they consider market-obsolete.
There’s also the cost factor. Right now it will run you about $300-400 to replace one rerchargeable ReSound battery integrated into an aid that is out-of-warranty. Which gives you an idea of what it costs them to produce an aid they might price at $2,000+!
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The HIS at Costco is not allowed to remove your earwax. I found that out too and I asked why he couldn’t just pluck that out. They do not allow it as they are not ENT or have any form of “Dr” to their authorization to dispense hearing aids. My bet is that person was frustrated with their system and the inability to help you by removing that wax! Some people cannot hide their frustration well and it often gets read in a misdirected way.
My experience at Costco was a lot different. I did a lot of talking and asking questions though. Got to know my HIS a bit while he was testing my hearing.
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Jeffrey great post.
I understand. I got new hearing aids after using the previous ones for only 2 years. Early. I had a safety problem and my audi worked miracles. Part of the “fix” was rechargeable batteries. My workman’s comp provides hearing aids and batteries. They need to last 5 years. I’m hard on batteries. 17 hours of use is a normal day. My batteries don’t have enough capacity for a normal day with long phone calls. I didn’t chose my hearing aids. Workman’s comp did. I’m happy to have them. They save my life on construction sites. Truly. I manage my time there to make my hearing aids work.
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I started with Costco Resound hearing aids, they were fair. Then the VA started giving me upgraded versions of Resound, first the Lynx, then the lastest: Omnia. For speech clarity the Costco are the best. I bounce around between all the models and end up coming back to the Costco. The Omnia are the worst and that’s have three adjustments (ear measurements). The people that work at Costco are not Audiologists but appear to know what they are doing and the software does a lot of the work in fitting.
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Likewise here. Those folks at Costco are Audiologist Technicians, not Audiologists. I visited an Audiologist first; got a Audiograph and then after learning that a pair of HA would run about 7K, I went to Costco to see if either of their HA would work. I bought the Jabra Enhance 2.0 and it seems to do the job for $1,800 minus the Costco Card discount. The 3 year warranty and 3 month follow-ups to address any issues make it a good choice.
Costco warranty of three years is also unique as well as their inclusion of loss and damage. Typically Audis don’t provide coverage on loss or damage without an additional policy. I also appreciated their coverage. Each store has access to my data and I’ve used a FL, CA, HI and TN store for help while traveling.
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I’ve read that it is a mix in the US and Canada: some audiologists, and some techs of various certifications & licensing. I didn’t buy from them, but I did come in for a quick in-store demo and liked what I heard. The VA gives me HAs, so that became an easy choice.
WH
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Yes, it’s true that hearing instrument techs are not ‘allowed’ to remove earwax, only ENTs or MDs can do it. That said, a doctor of audiology I went to in North Carolina years ago used to do it. I don’t know if the law varies by state, or whether it is federal. At any rate, see your MD about it–AND learn how to safely clean your own ears periodically. It’s not that hard and a good practice.
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In Illinois, CVS uses various levels of RNs to remove ear wax, no MD necessary. They may need to be NPs or PAs. In my experience, they usually start with water to clean ears, and sometimes probes. I don’t see Costco replumbing their stores. It’s a real patchwork of regulations in the US.
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Thanks for this. Yes, I was thinking NP and RN as I wrote that. A person cleaning needs some medical training, not just audi tech stuff. The wash flush-out is iffy for success. But it can work. More folks should learn how to regularly clean out wax at home. There are various ways that work, but practice and care is needed.
I go to an office run by a hearing aid practitioner now. He does ear wax removal.
I went to audiologists before. They didn’t.
Dave
Toronto
I guess it’s hit-or-miss all over!
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I think every country is different.
Until 6 months ago I had always dealt with audiologists Now I go to a hearing aid practitioner and his work is much better than the man who dispensed my hearing aids. While he had good skills that did not include the skills necessary to set up the hearing aids he provided for me.
I have great respect for good audiologists. Yet the last one was a bad choice.
We are lucky that we have such wonderfully skilled audiologists helping us here.
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They remove wax at the audiology practice I use, in Maryland, United States. Their go-to method is some kind of probe, though they do use water on occasion. That said, I’ve had little need for wax removal since I started squirting warm water in my ears every night, using a 90ml ear syringe I got from Amazon. I squirt two bulbfuls into each ear, and it’s rare for me to find any wax on my earmolds. Before I started doing it, I had lots of wax.
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Wish I’d seen this sooner. It really depends on the type of HL you have and whether or not it’s a straightforward HL to fit. I’m around the same type of hearing loss, but they were able to fit me with KS9’s that still work to this day. I think you’ll be okay, but it really comes down to the skill of the Audiologist doing the testing or fitting.
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My UHC reimbursement from UHC is $1500, and that’s off a pre-negotiated price of $5000 for the top-of-the-line hearing aids from any company they have, which means that I pay $3500 for the highest level of technology. And the UHC policy includes a 60-day trial period. It’s not Costco, but it’s still a very good deal.
If I ever get around to claiming my Jabra Enhance Pro 10s on insurance, it will be $800 AUD per aid. So total cost to me will be 400 Australian dollars, two hundred and something USD. I can only do that every 5 years though.
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