We'll soon be able to get OTC hearing aids!

Irwin

Irwin

Well-known Member
Location
Denver, Colorado, U.S.A.
A long-awaited Food and Drug Administration proposal would allow millions of consumers to buy over-the-counter hearing aids in stores or online without a prescription or medical exam.

The agency’s move Tuesday to make hearing devices more accessible and affordable for millions of patients with mild to moderate hearing loss is the first step in a process that could make them available to consumers as soon as next fall. The agency’s proposal — coming more than four years after Congress ordered it to craft regulations for over-the-counter devices — would create a new category of hearing aids and supersede state-level regulations that require patients to go through physicians or audiologists to get prescriptions and fittings.​

That's some good news. We shouldn't be required to see doctors and audiologists for hearing aids and spend 10s of thousands of dollars. They should have hearing tests in drug stores to see what frequencies need to be boosted and then we can just buy adjustable hearing aids to fix our hearing problems.

Being able to buy OTC hearing aids will greatly drive up competition and drive down prices. It's about time. I'll bet audiologists aren't too happy about it though. :ROFLMAO:
 

Irwin said:
A long-awaited Food and Drug Administration proposal would allow millions of consumers to buy over-the-counter hearing aids in stores or online without a prescription or medical exam.

The agency’s move Tuesday to make hearing devices more accessible and affordable for millions of patients with mild to moderate hearing loss is the first step in a process that could make them available to consumers as soon as next fall. The agency’s proposal — coming more than four years after Congress ordered it to craft regulations for over-the-counter devices — would create a new category of hearing aids and supersede state-level regulations that require patients to go through physicians or audiologists to get prescriptions and fittings.​

That's some good news. We shouldn't be required to see doctors and audiologists for hearing aids and spend 10s of thousands of dollars. They should have hearing tests in drug stores to see what frequencies need to be boosted and then we can just buy adjustable hearing aids to fix our hearing problems.

Being able to buy OTC hearing aids will greatly drive up competition and drive down prices. It's about time. I'll bet audiologists aren't too happy about it though. :ROFLMAO:
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A dream come true. Maybe then hubby will get interested.
 
Irwin said:
A long-awaited Food and Drug Administration proposal would allow millions of consumers to buy over-the-counter hearing aids in stores or online without a prescription or medical exam.
Click to expand...
Great to hear... err read.

If it really finally happens I may get one, and be able to actually hear news again.

Long overdue!
 

I've been half deaf since birth. Years ago, I looked into a pair of hearing aids. I was given a pair that didn't work well. I had to go through a month of crap to return them; of course the company preferred to keep my deposit, and the $9,000.00.
I've heard the digital ones work much better, but the ripoff price made me say, "No thanks."
If I could try a pair of hearing aids that were reasonably priced & easy to return if they don't work out, I would try again.
 
You can. My audiologist gave me a pair for a free trial.. The new digital ones are great, and while not cheap, you get what you pay for. My new ones were about $4K, but they were tailored to my hearing loss, which was greater in my right ear. They are also Bluetooth enabled, and I can connect them to my smartphone to make calls. I also have an adapter that connects the TV audio to my hearing aids wirelessly.
 
Rather than spending thousands of dollars on hearing aids, why not just buy some airpods and have people call you. You can even do a conference call so everyone can be in the conversation. Plus, you look hip.
 
Rather than spending thousands of dollars on hearing aids, why not just buy some airpods and have people call you. You can even do a conference call so everyone can be in the conversation. Plus, you look hip.
 
Rather than spending thousands of dollars on hearing aids, why not just buy some airpods and have people call you. You can even do a conference call so everyone can be in the conversation. Plus, you look hip.
 
My hearing is still fairly good....knock wood...but I get frequent mailings from a hearing aid center. I don't know why they keep sending me this stuff, as I've never had any ear/hearing related issues. They also advertise heavily on local TV stations....which is probably another reason why their products are so expensive.
 
Irwin said:
A long-awaited Food and Drug Administration proposal would allow millions of consumers to buy over-the-counter hearing aids in stores or online without a prescription or medical exam.

The agency’s move Tuesday to make hearing devices more accessible and affordable for millions of patients with mild to moderate hearing loss is the first step in a process that could make them available to consumers as soon as next fall. The agency’s proposal — coming more than four years after Congress ordered it to craft regulations for over-the-counter devices — would create a new category of hearing aids and supersede state-level regulations that require patients to go through physicians or audiologists to get prescriptions and fittings.​

That's some good news. We shouldn't be required to see doctors and audiologists for hearing aids and spend 10s of thousands of dollars. They should have hearing tests in drug stores to see what frequencies need to be boosted and then we can just buy adjustable hearing aids to fix our hearing problems.

Being able to buy OTC hearing aids will greatly drive up competition and drive down prices. It's about time. I'll bet audiologists aren't too happy about it though. :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
Hopefully they will work better than most of sound boosting stuff you can buy now without an RX.
i had the testing and referral. But no way could i afford the co-pay of $700 bucks per ear. Thankfully having watched a lot of foreign movies i my youth subtitles/closed captioning no problem for me.
 
Don M. said:
My hearing is still fairly good....knock wood...but I get frequent mailings from a hearing aid center. I don't know why they keep sending me this stuff, as I've never had any ear/hearing related issues. They also advertise heavily on local TV stations....which is probably another reason why their products are so expensive.
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Hi!
I get mailing(s) from audiology companies, also, and don't have hearing loss.
(Know that...had hearing test at a Health Fair)
I'm thinking they get your age information from the the MVA ( motor veh admin)
It's an AGE thing..where they think everyone has hearing loss..by a certain age.
I've been tempted to call and say.."How dare you"...
But.. don't
They'd probably think..cranky, old person. 😂
 
I'm on my second pair of hearing aids from an audiologist and this pair is on borrowed time.
They cost me thousands for the pair. I'm going to shop around next time but I'm pretty sure the OTC aids won't measure up. The audiologist takes great care and time to get the aids perfect for each ear.
What might happen is since aids will be more available OTC it might force the price down on aids from a reputable dealer.
I do know that if buying OTC make sure you aren't getting amplifiers but true hearing aids.
I was lucky to get free batteries for the life of the aids. That expense needs to be factored in also.
Now they have chargers for them. Something else to think about.
 
Irwin said:
A long-awaited Food and Drug Administration proposal would allow millions of consumers to buy over-the-counter hearing aids in stores or online without a prescription or medical exam.

The agency’s move Tuesday to make hearing devices more accessible and affordable for millions of patients with mild to moderate hearing loss is the first step in a process that could make them available to consumers as soon as next fall. The agency’s proposal — coming more than four years after Congress ordered it to craft regulations for over-the-counter devices — would create a new category of hearing aids and supersede state-level regulations that require patients to go through physicians or audiologists to get prescriptions and fittings.​

That's some good news. We shouldn't be required to see doctors and audiologists for hearing aids and spend 10s of thousands of dollars. They should have hearing tests in drug stores to see what frequencies need to be boosted and then we can just buy adjustable hearing aids to fix our hearing problems.

Being able to buy OTC hearing aids will greatly drive up competition and drive down prices. It's about time. I'll bet audiologists aren't too happy about it though. :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
This is curious to me...
There has been a hearing aid ad in our local paper...for quite reasonable.
How can that be?
It's MDHearingAid..looked up... on-line. FYI
 
rainyghost said:
Rather than spending thousands of dollars on hearing aids, why not just buy some airpods and have people call you. You can even do a conference call so everyone can be in the conversation. Plus, you look hip.
Click to expand...
That's actually not a bad idea! Plus, you look hip! ;) The App store for Android phones have a trillion apps for free, that might be worth checking into.
 
Jace said:
How expensive are they...since Apple?

Would there an alternative?
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I was told that Apple is actually working on hearing aid technology and it will cost a fraction of what you might pay now. The hearing aid companies aren't all too happy.
 

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