Hearing aid - why so much??

[generator12]

For a couple of hundred bucks I can get an XBox, or an IPad, or a cell phone that will do everything but order a steak medium-rare. Nothing in the modern world has dropped in price more than micro-electronics.

So why does every hearing aid go for $3000.00 and up?

I've reached the age where one of these is becoming very desirable, but comparison shopping isn't getting me anywhere. This game appears to be rigged..! I can't believe that competition hasn't brought down the cost of these things, unless the lobby for the manufacturers has essentially shut down the free market.

Can anyone:

1. Explain why hearing aids are so costly?
2. Suggest a reliable source where they are available for a reasonable price?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Hearing aid - why so much??

1. because they can charge what they want for a hearing aid as you NEED it. no one needs an Xbox or Ipad. for example, my jawbone icon has a better mic, an internal rechargeable battery, and only cost $200. hearing aids actually only cost $4 to manufacture, however the rest is overhead, liability, and of course profit.
2. there isnt any. I spent a week on the phone trying to find my father a low cost high quality hearing aid. they dont exist due to #1 above.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Hearing aid - why so much??

I have a Phonak and I can only guess why they are so much money but I would probably be wrong. I will tell you that it's really opens up the world again when you wear one. Possibly you do not need the upper model and the lower one may fulfill the needs.

Is your observation based on a recent audiology clinic visit? Many medical plans will bear some of the burden.

 

[generator12]

Re: Hearing aid - why so much??

I have a Phonak and I can only guess why they are so much money but I would probably be wrong. I will tell you that it's really opens up the world again when you wear one. Possibly you do not need the upper model and the lower one may fulfill the needs.

Is your observation based on a recent audiology clinic visit? Many medical plans will bear some of the burden.

Maybe so, but Medicare isn't one of them.

 

[Jlawsen]

Re: Hearing aid - why so much??

Hearing aids and dentures. You don't have to have either one but they make life much more enjoyable. I think they must classify them as luxury items. My recent denture adventure ran me close to 15,000.00. Insurance paid 2500.00. It was hard to believe that I paid someone to put me through that much pain and agony. After that hearing aids at 3000.00 each sounds pretty good.

 

[mscher]

Re: Hearing aid - why so much??

Most of it certainly is markup, but they probably don't sell a set every day, plus they spend a lot of time with fittings and follows up with adjustments .

They are not alone. A pair of glasses can be 200.00 and an "anti snore" device, where a Denists makes a cheap casting of your teeth, can easily run $1,000.

Mans gotta eat.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Hearing aid - why so much??

http://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-05-2011/hearing-aids-cost.html

Using the approximate price of $3,600 for a pair of hearing aids, here is how the costs break down:

Overall cost — $3,600

Costs for the manufacturer:

Materials — $360

Research — $1,080

Other retailer costs:

Rent/overhead — $450

Testing/diagnostic machines — $288

Licenses/insurance — $108

Salaries — $540

Marketing — $270

Continuing education/training — $180

Potential profit for the retailer (pretax) — $324

Approximate product cost for retailer — $1,440

 

[r.j.dawg]

Re: Hearing aid - why so much??

My recent denture adventure ran me close to 15,000.00. Insurance paid 2500.00. It was hard to believe that I paid someone to put me through that much pain and agony.

 

[rbh]

Re: Hearing aid - why so much??

If you worked in any field were the noise levels effected your hearing, do you have recourse.

Did you ever get base line hearing testing pre or post any job??

 

[foodfisher]

Re: Hearing aid - why so much??

Market and supply. When enough of us old fart$ have had enough, the cost will come down.

 

[JB]

Re: Hearing aid - why so much??

I had most of my teeth crowned about 12 years ago for ten grand. A recent root canal and bridge were another 4.5 grand.

Somehow, I feel both were excellent investments in the quality of my life. I really needed them. Eating became a pleasure again.

I have a pair of Beltone hearing aids I got recently for a bit over four grand. I only wear them when I want to hear the mockingbird in my yard sing. The rest of the time they are uncomfortable instruments of audio torture. Quality of life?? I am alone 95% of the time and have little or no use for them except to hear old Mr. Mockingbird sing. I can't hear the microwave ding, but I can watch it.

 

[generator12]

Re: Hearing aid - why so much??

If you worked in any field were the noise levels effected your hearing, do you have recourse.

Did you ever get base line hearing testing pre or post any job??

Sure, I had all that, but it was in the years when industrial hearing loss was just becoming understood. And it's a LONG time ago. Also, hearing loss is congenital with me - my family lives a long time, but doesn't hear very much of the last fifteen years...!

No, no recourse. And don't get wrong, I could pay the three grand. But it's just disgusting to see an industry so managed as to eliminate the free market to keep prices up.

 

[bigdee]

Re: Hearing aid - why so much??

Most of it certainly is markup, but they probably don't sell a set every day, plus they spend a lot of time with fittings and follows up with adjustments .

They are not alone. A pair of glasses can be 200.00 and an "anti snore" device, where a Denists makes a cheap casting of your teeth, can easily run $1,000.

Mans gotta eat.

Because the profession stifles competition. I had a friend that made dentures for the dentists that would furnished him the casts...his charge to the dentist was $25 the difference was he was a craftsman and the dentist was a monopolized professional.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Hearing aid - why so much??

You could probably take a nice vacation to a beautiful country, and get your hearing aids, for not much more.

Lets see, where are those things made?

 

[Fishing Dude too]

Re: Hearing aid - why so much??

Allot of cost is to gain FDA approval, they charge high price for this. Then to keep up with or ahead of competitors they need to being new designs every years. Then you have limited production runs. Grammas first ones cost $500 years ago.

 

[Cofe]

Re: Hearing aid - why so much??

They can be worth the expense.



An elderly gentleman had serious hearing problems for a number of years. He went to the doctor and the doctor was able to have him fitted for a set of $4,000.00 hearing aids that allowed the gentleman to hear 100%. The elderly gentleman went back in a month to the doctor and the doctor said, "Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again."

The gentleman replied, "Oh, I haven't told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I've changed my will three times!" Then I decided to blow their inheritance....Priceless....

 

[rockyrude]

Re: Hearing aid - why so much??

The cost is really a supply/demand story. There is only one possibly two companies that make the electronics inside of a hearing aid. 20 million people want an ipad, maybe 100,000 people across the planet need a hearing aid per year. Manufacturing costs and audiologist costs across 100,000 units puts the per unit cost way up.

 

[lakelover]

Re: Hearing aid - why so much??

So why does every hearing aid go for $3000.00 and up?

Can anyone:

1. Explain why hearing aids are so costly?
2. Suggest a reliable source where they are available for a reasonable price?

I've wondered the same thing.

I'm not at the point where I need a hearing aid (my opinion!). My family might have a different opinion at times!

I realize that I am approaching that stage at some point, and was stunned when I learned that they are all so costly. I really know very few people who own them who wear them all or even most of the time. Most don't want to put up with them and don't figure that the return is worth the hassle, after actually getting a pair. Almost everyone I know who has them says they are uncomforatble.

My brother got a pair a couple years ago, wore them a lot at first and it was a pleasure not to have to repeat everything I said. The last several times I've been around him, he kept asking me to repeat myself and I looked and saw he didn't have them in.

I hope by the time I really need them, the cost will be down a little.