[lynwal]

Hoping someone can help me. My husband has 3 year old hearing aids that he got through Costco in NH that need to be replaced. Our current insurance pays $1500 per ear for new ones. The new ones will cost $6900 so approx. $4K out of pocket. We are planning on signing up for The Villages United Healthcare starting in September. It appears that there is only a $150 copay for hearing aids through them, but after calling United Healthcare and confirming, they also said they use a specific vendor who does not appear to be affiliated with the Villages. If I go online and check the doctors in the Villages Healthcare System, they have their own Audiologists so I am not sure how this works.

My questions are - does anyone know if these $150 copay hearing aids are inferior to the multi-thousand dollar ones? How much do you guys pay for hearing aids if you go through the Audiologist at the Villages?

We are trying to decide whether to get them here before we come down for good in September....Thank you for your help!

[Brendanyc]

Originally Posted by lynwal

Hoping someone can help me. My husband has 3 year old hearing aids that he got through Costco in NH that need to be replaced. Our current insurance pays $1500 per ear for new ones. The new ones will cost $6900 so approx. $4K out of pocket. We are planning on signing up for The Villages United Healthcare starting in September. It appears that there is only a $150 copay for hearing aids through them, but after calling United Healthcare and confirming, they also said they use a specific vendor who does not appear to be affiliated with the Villages. If I go online and check the doctors in the Villages Healthcare System, they have their own Audiologists so I am not sure how this works.

My questions are - does anyone know if these $150 copay hearing aids are inferior to the multi-thousand dollar ones? How much do you guys pay for hearing aids if you go through the Audiologist at the Villages?

We are trying to decide whether to get them here before we come down for good in September....Thank you for your help!

My mother has an audiology appointment in a few weeks with TV Healthcare. My understanding is that they conduct the tests and they utilize a company that sends you the hearing aids by mail. At that time there is an office (not with TV) that you have to go to so that the hearing aids can be adjusted if necessary. After reading your post it certainly poses an issue that she would be getting an adjustment from someone who did not conduct the examination. I will be calling the Pinellas office to inquire about this. It would be great to hear from anyone who has gone through the entire process.

[rhood]

I would also be interested in hearing about other's experiences. I have an audio test next week and am wondering about the device options and what portion United Health Care covers.

[Diane G]

Dr. Laura P, the audiologist at Pinellas and Colony, appears very qualified and is a good communicator. She will test your hearing and recommend the best hearing aid for your amount of hearing loss. She worked with my partner from November through March until he was 100 percent satisfied with the quality of sound. She recommended the least expensive hearing aid for his loss, which he tried first and didn't like. She then bumped him up a level, and he is very satisfied with the product. They offer a 30-day trial period and a no-questions-asked return policy. Her assistant, Shannon, is very responsive as well.

The office did work with the United Healthcare distributor, Health Innovations, but we were never able to get them to timely respond to questions. We were told the hearing aids were older models, and that is how they could afford to sell them so cheaply. They were, I think, $1700 for the pair. You do then pay to have the audiologist check them and fit them. My concern was the ability to return them, as promised, when I couldn't even get them to respond to a sales call.

Here's a link to their Web site: https://www.hihealthinnovations.com/...A&gclsrc=aw.ds

[Flyinglady]

I also saw Dr. Laura, she works from Pinellas and Colony health centres. I did get the Health Innovations aids, the cost was $200 with The Villages United Healthcare, I did not like them and sent them back and received a full refund. I was told that they have a store in Inverness (about a 20 minute drive), I'm sure if you go and see them they will be able to answer all your questions. I ended up getting different ones though Dr. Laura and I think I paid $2800 for the pair with no contribution from United Healthcare. My advice would be to go and see her she will do the hearing test and will explain all the options to you.

[KayakerNC]

Is your insurance participating with the TruHearing program?
Lots of providers and BIG discounts on HA's.
https://www.truhearing.com/

[JRichm369]

I went in and had an examination with Dr. Laura Pratesi, she gave me a very thorough explanation of testing and her recommendation. She suggested the HealthInnovations devices from United Health care. These are very small behind the ear, the co-pay was $200.00 and are returnable for full refund within 70 days. They do not have Blue Tooth which a lot of the more expensive aids have, I received these by mail a week after they were ordered, and they were programed to her prescription. While I have only had them several days I am quite impressed with their performance.

[lynwal]

Thank you everyone for the info....I think we have decided to go back to Costco. They have the bluetooth capability and are $1795/pr. These worked well for him for the past 3 years.