[petsetc]

I am on my 2nd pair of VA provided hearing aids and getting them through the VA was simple. They are Starkey. They also provided me with a blue tooth device that hooks to my TV to broadcast voices into my head (you have to separately request it). And as I recall, they will provide you a new pair every 5 years.

And I do not have a service related disability nor did I have to jump through any hoops to get them. Maybe my loss was just bad enough.

FWIW

[OhioBuckeye]

I have Phonak hearing aides which they said were the best on the market, wish I could tell you honestly what the retail price was but they were several thousands of dollars, I want to say $7,000. my out of pocket price was $300. for both. You got the charger with them, also I got no pressure into buying them. If my memory serves me right I think they have approximately 10 things you can get them to do, I selected to program them to my phone & my internet which was a big asset for me, but I think the next time I won’t get such expensive Hearing Aides only because some of the cheaper ones can do the same exact thing. But they are very nice hearing aides. But for me buying cheaper won’t let me hear less. My Ins. will let me have some models for Free but to me they gave me hearing that sounds like I was in a drum. The one that went deep into the ear canal that you couldn’t see gave me a plugged up sound, hated them! Hope this helped!

[starflyte1]

I have had hearing aids for several years and think a great audiologist is as important as a good hearing aid.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Newvilla

Several months ago I bought a pair of cheap OTC rechargeable hearing aids for $254. They work great. If they last a year, I’ll be happy. Are they as good as $3000 hearing aids I used to have? No, but they work pretty well. The brand is Neosonic. They are available over the internet.

For mild hearing lost can get away with cheap ones but for those of us with severe loss you need an audiologist and more expensive aids

[PurePeach]

Originally Posted by pokeefe45@aol.com

Have UHC Hearing benefits through The Villages UHC Focus advantage plan-
Got a pair of their (UHC's) proprietary product-Relate Gold brand last year-Decent and effective-Paid $800 for the pair-Unitron makes them for UHC and the same Unitron ones would be over $3,000-
This year I am stepping up to a 'Widex Moment' product that's a lot smaller with some features that might make me use them more-and I am paying $1600 for the pair based on my UHC copay. Normally a $5,000 plus product. UHC works with a lot of providers and have those listings on the uhchearing.com web site.
Bottom line-GREAT UHC pricing and a GREAT selection. Lot to wade through though, and it's an important decision. Good luck!

This is good to know as we have UHC Focus. Just wondering, though, did you use the $500 that UHC gives you to offset out-of-pocket costs, too?

[susankchittum@gmail.com]

Originally Posted by rhood

We have United Health HMO for our health insurance.
Regarding hearing aids, they will pay $175-$1225 per device.
I would like to hear of real experiences.
What do you have, where did you get them, what was cost, what did insurance pay and what was your out of pocket.
Many thanks for any replies!

Costco - $1400 for the pair and I love them. I connect to my phone, my TV, etc. I chose batteries, but you can get them with a charger for a few hundred more. All exams, checkups, maintenance is free. 3 year warranty.