IMHO, understanding the pricing model at various clinics and what is included in the bundle takes time. I have used 3 clinics so far. Below are my thoughts on each:
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I went to the clinic my insurance referred me to and for which it would pay its part. The AuD was fine, but each checkup was an extra fee and the initial cost was about $5k in 2014. I liked the Starkey Halos that I bought there.
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First clinic sold out to Audibel. So, I went there because they would work with my insurance. Every visit was a sales call for them and I saw little benefit from their service. I did replace my Halos with an updated Audibel version. The Audibel units never worked as well as my Halos. One day, the RIC on one of my HAs broke. I called to get a new one and was told it would take a few weeks to get the replacement. I called a private clinic a mile from my house and they replaced the RIC that day. As I was bit their client, I had to buy the part, but that seemed fair.
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The clinic near my home from which I got the replacement RIC not only replaced the RIC, but did an audiogram and ensured the HAs were performing as they should using REM. As the aids were locked, they could not tweak the settings, but did confirm that they were in the ballpark. Part & service was all for under $100.
When I finally tired of the sales pressure from clinic #2, I went back to the local clinic #3. We did the whole process. Based on my prior experience, I knew that I would need to get new HAs. Not a big deal as I was not all that happy with the Audibel units anyway. It was probably more the fitter than the aids, but I was done with them.
After we do the audiogram, we have the pricing talk. This clinic uses the bundled pricing model. They would not itemize what each item cost, but they did have a list of what was included in the price. There was no a la carte option, but for 3 years there would be no additional cost and the price included custom molds. Inflation adjusted, the pricing was similar to what I had been paying for just HAs. I also asked if the price he quoted could be paid on a credit card. When affirmed it could, we negotiated the cash (check) price for 2 sets of HAs (my wife & me).
I am 2 years in with this clinic and they have provided everything they promised. Currently my HAs are at Starkey as the 24 hour battery life that was spec’ed was down to under 16 hours and was beginning to die before my day was done. I currently have loaners of the same model that work as they should. Given that I got 2 years out of the batteries, I asked the AuD to ask Starkey to (if they are simply replacing the units) replace them with disposable units of the same model. He said he would ask, but he doubted they would make that switch. Frankly, if they don’t make the switch and what comes back works as well as the loaners, that would be fine as well. We shall see on Tuesday.
Biggest pain point is writing the check for 2 pairs of HAs. Next is finding the right AuD. Third is figuring out the value provided by completing clinics with bundled pricing.
We have 2 professional jobs, so affording the HAs has not been an issue. We have been getting new HAs when the insurance benefit was available, every 4 years. As we move to retirement, we will be moving around a lot - full timing in a motorhome. Given that there are Costco stores in most cities in the US and their pricing/value model seems to be pretty good, we will probably switch to Costco. Even if they don’t take our insurance, our out-of-pocket will be a bit lower.
ETA - Starkey replaced my HAs with rechargeable units. They refused to sub out for disposable units.