I don’t think we can say with certainty that the ‘majority’ of hard of hearing people find $1,500 to be a lot of money necessarily. That’s a pretty bold statistic which we have not researched.
In any case a couple of grand for hearing aids works out to be about $54 a month on a 48 month finance program including interest (12.99% APR) and no down payment. It is also a medical expense that can be used as a deduction.
If a patient is so poor that they cannot afford that kind of payment, Starkey Hearing Foundation offer free hearing aids through their charity Hear Now program which costs just $250 for a pair of hearing aids often worth over $3,000 or more retail.
So there are options for most people. The ones who get screwed are generally the ones who saved for retirement, but not quite enough. So they are too ‘rich’ to get the charity help, and are too poor, or have credit problems that would prevent them from financing $54 a month. Although that said such a person could get one hearing aid, and later buy a second, which cuts the price/payment in half.