Why Can't They
 

Why can't they sell hearing aids over the counter?

My husband agrees and also wants to know why they are so expensive!

Look up "hearing aids" on Amazon. They sell a number of "hearing amplifiers" that are inexpensive. Some are even FDA approved.


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They are exp[ensive so that charlatans can continue to make outrageous profits.

A hearing aid is a pretty simple device and inexpensive to make. All of this fitting to your specific frequencies is for show.

As dubussone said, go online and buy a pair. Companies and people are beginning to wise up to this fraud.

There are some issues with setting them up. You will need an audio test to determine which part of the audio spectrum you are not hearing. Hearing aids are then programmed to amplify those frequency bands where you have hearing loss. Without an audio test, it isn't clear how you would program the hearing aids. If you are just looking for something to uniformly amplify all frequencies then I guess that would be doable. As in most things is life, you get what you pay for.

They are actually pretty sophisticated devices that do a substantial amount of digital signal processing in a very small package.

It takes tweaking to get the aides callabrated to each ear properly. PLUS not everyone's issues are the same (or "cookie cutter")

Exactly. I was quite surprised at the level of fine tuning that could be done and the capabilities of the devices.

Who collects hearing aides in The Villages like they do eyeglasses?

According to a recent article on television news, the FDA is moving to allow hearing aids to be sold 'over the counter' in 2018. This will be interesting when and if it occurs. My guess, the current 'hearing aid' dispensaries will morph into centers to setup hearing aids and do appropriate hearing tests at a cost (these are now typically free).

I agree...but not thousands of dollars worth of tweaking...???

THIS IS AN EXCELLENT THREAD.

This is an industry that is making moooooocho money.

Just look and see who can afford to buy FULL PAGE ADS in the local papers and constantly have expensive advertising on Television. I am suspicious of them all.

Yes, one does need to have an accurate diagnosis of hearing loss and because of all the new technologies it is becoming easier to diagnose and CHEAPER to manufacture aids to help people hear better.

It isn't like buying a bra, but it does not need to be as expensive as it is.

WE ARE BEING TAKEN TO THE CLEANERS.

Interesting.....There will be pushback from a very powerful industry.

I agree hearing aids are expensive but I think this an item where one shouldn't try to save money and get an inferior product. As one person said, "you get what you pay for".

What is it worth to someone to be able to hear what another person is saying. I realize some people don't want to hear what others have to say clearly. To me, it's a quality of life issue.

Because it is so expensive, medicare doesn't pay for good hearing aids. My plan does cover them but the product they offer is garbage or so I was informed, they're not worth getting.

Hi dbussone, I am aware that they sell on line and also aware that they have to be adjusted to fit each person's need. it would seem that since drug stores are getting into the minute clinics that they could adapt for an audio test to match your purchase. I am one of those shoppers that still prefers touching seeing etc merchandise......too much of "it use to cost $495 but today only you can get it for $19.95 and heck today we are really being generous and you can get two for $19.95.............

If my recollection is correct there is only one American hearing aid manufacturer (Starkey). Clearly OTC purchases are a threat too many in this field and they will continue to barricade OTC...but like glasses its going to cave

Here is the link to the story I had previously mentioned, the FDA is considering over the counter hearing aids.

http://thehill.com/regulation/health...r-hearing-aids

As I stated before this will be interesting. My hope is that the audiologists, ENTs, etc., will embrace this change and provide the fine tuning to respond correctly to their hearing tests, at reasonable costs.