Hearing Aids Prices
Updated November 4, 2016 – The Price You Pay For Hearing Aids — Is It Justified?
In a recent study, hearing aid manufacturers were asked to justify the prices that they typically charge for their products. As you can imagine, this created a great deal of consternation within the industry given the fact that many companies oftentimes charge prices that many consumer advocates believe are unnecessarily high. However, some interesting data was derived from this particular study.
For example, where as many products are typically made in Third World sweatshops, hearing aids are handcrafted in first world countries by skilled technicians. When you really stop and think about it, most people would feel much better knowing that a product they are inserting into the ear is not potentially laced with toxic chemicals or foreign materials that can oftentimes be found in crowded sweatshop conditions. Given the fact that a great deal of time and effort is invested to create these hearing aids, the price gets passed on to customers. Truthfully, most customers are very happy with the product they are receiving, so the study’s data indicates that hearing aid manufacturers are doing the right thing in so far as how they are choosing to manufacture their products.
Something else that stood out in this particular study was the most Canadian hearing aid manufacturers need to spend some extra money ensuring that the products they produce live up to very strict guidelines developed by Health Canada. Given the fact that the hearing aid industry is very competitive, many other companies — including many in the United States and around the world — have had to meet these higher standards in an effort to remain competitive.
One aspect of why hearing aids cost so much money stems largely from the fact that there are a variety of different things that need to be done to ensure that a particular hearing aid will fit within a customer’s ear. Needless to say, the process of getting a hearing aid into somebody’s ear so that it fits both comfortably while at the same time resting in a way that allows the hearing aid to do its job can be both time consuming and require a great deal of skill on the part of the technician who’s doing the fitting. This cost gets passed along to customers as well.
Here’s the bottom line: hearing aids cost a lot of money because they do something that is straight out of biblical times — they enabled people who otherwise could not hear to hear. That being said, many hearing aid manufacturers have taken steps to develop a broad product line that involves different price points. This is great news given the fact that it enables customers to make an intelligent decision as to which particular device makes the most sense for them to use.
One final thing to keep in mind is that more and more hearing aid manufacturers are beginning to offer lifetime support for the hearing aids that they sell you. Therefore, you can actually purchase a hearing aid without ever having to worry about spending money on getting it fixed or updated in the future. This naturally gets priced into how much you pay.
I have purchased four oticon in the ear aids and have been very pleased with them.Unfortunatly,I have a dog who seems to enjoy eating hearing aids,so to date I have lost all four and now rely on a very cheap Japonese aid which doesnt do what they promised.The parts of the old aids seem to me to be salvagable,but my specialist says no.Is there a way of telling you if something can be saved.
Gordon….I have several patients, whos dog’s “like” H/A’s…have your guy (gal) order the aids W/3year loss and damage insurance, instead of the customary one year, and have your homeowners (renters) insurance guy put a rider on your policy for the aids, after that…The parts from the damaged aids, probably could be salvaged, but the cost of re-building a dog chewed aid might be more, than a newer current model…also your guy might give you a substantial break on the price, in light of your loyalty (we would)
The hearing aids industry is one of the most obscenely priced niches of the healthcare space…
Quality hearing aids nowadays are comprised mostly of digital signal processors that in its aggregate cost in the range of $20-$100. Most major manufacturers (e.g. Phonak) mass-produce these devices in low-cost China. Nevertheless, the patient foots a $3000-$7000 bill for a pair of hearing aids, with prices nearly doubling in the last decade. How come modern cellphones that are substantially more complex than hearing aids cost up to 5 times less? Here’s my stab at the 3 most important reasons:
1. Mark-ups: audiologists mark up a device on the order of 3-5x the wholesale price. They claim that it’s due to the heavy service component (more relevant for 1st time users than for replacement customers), which is partly true. The other element is that audiologist clinics in the US are highly fragmented and do not generate enough sales volume to offset the high overhead costs of their clinic… and thus need the price levels.
2. Bundling: audiologists do not provide transparency on the final bill, but often bundle service, device cost, equipment rental, warranty, repairs, etc. into one number. Some users, such as experienced users looking for their next hearing aid, might only require a fraction of these services… however are billed for the full package.
3. Over-engineering: for the majority of users (mild/moderate hearing loss), devices nowadays do not provide substantial improvements in alleviating hearing loss, compared with devices from 2-3 years ago. Instead, manufacturers pack these devices with myriads of features (wireless functions, remote controls, 20+ channels,…) that allow them to pass on price increases.
Quite frankly though, a patient who can’t buy a hearing aid because it’s grotesquely priced doesn’t care about having a bluetooth-enabled device; he/she just wants to hear better. It seems that when it comes to hearing aids, patients are often only offered the “Rolls Royce”… but don’t have the choice of opting for the “Honda”.
This market is due a shake up, where ultimately more choice and transparency needs to be given to patients.
I totally agree with Audicus. My audiologist thinks I should get a new hearing aid as my old one is four years old; she said the new technology is significantly better than the old. I tried out the new Starkey yesterday, and I agree that the sound is better: it’s crisper and cleaner. However, it’s $5600 for the pair! (That’s for the S Series iQ9.) I’ve always thought that it’s wrong that insurance companies won’t pay for hearing aids.
Any suggestions for shaking up the market?! Maybe it’s time to start a campaign to lobby our representatives in Congress.
Try getting a price at Costco, if there is one near you.
My current hearing aids cost $4,200 from a private business.
When I talked with the audiologist at Costco, he quoted me $2,900 for a similar pair.
There are in ear hearing aids advertised in the national press in the UK for GBP24 for the pair….yes that is not a typo.
Why is there not an outrage at the obscene prices being charged, with pathetic excuses about avoiding toxic materials from developing countries, so called audio consultants etc.
Most sites also pander to the industry by repeating these pathetic and outrageous lies….
You get what you pay for…period !
People like you feel that no one (but you) is entitled to a livable wage…got news for you, my kids, and grand kids eat three times a day, just like your’s do! Go buy a $50 USD “hearing aid” , A professional fitting would probably be a waste of resources, in your case LMAO !!!
Hearing aids from a reliable, competent, professional, who services what they sell…are a better value at $6000, than the exact same aids from COSTCO at $2900…this week alone we had 3 new patients who had COSTCO H/A’s that were less than 1 year old, all were quality H/A’s, all three people were VERY disatisfied, 2 were previous H/A users. When your Grandkids getting maried, and your aid takes a dump, Will COSTCO meet you at the office, after hours, or on Sunday to provide you with a loaner? Does COSTCO provide loaners? Does COSTCO make housecalls when you are sick, or disabled for service? Will COSTCO go to nursing homes/rehab centers/memory centers for follow ups? You get what you pay for !
Will COSTCO let you wear a “Brand new” pair of H/A’s for two weeks, BEFORE you buy them, and then give you a 100% money back promise, after you buy them ? (with lifetime service) Beltone will!
Uh-oh….sounds like nick wimble is an audiologist.
You get what you pay for? Well…..taking the actual cost of the hearing aid away, you are paying for an audiologist to adjust some hearing aids. With maybe some repair work.
My father has hearing aids….he paid top dollar, $7,200 for the top of the line HA. Free batteries though. These probably cost the company $800. So we paid $6,400 for free batteries, and maybe a cumulative total of 5 hours of programming and service.
$800 per hour? No thank you. Who do you think you are?
As a hearing aid dealer for almost three decades I can observe that there is a massive misunderstanding amongst the general public regarding hearing aid value vs price.
That being said I have reluctantly changed my business practices to something similar to 25 years ago.
I will offer amplifiers, assistive devices and personal sound amplifiers bundled or unbundled.
I would be willing to allow a neutral third party to review my books to verify that my highest priced hearing aids at 5500.00/pair have a markup of less than 75 percent; nowhere near 500-600 per cent.
The average customer will receive 30 visits for adjusting, repair, annual testing and counseling over an average of 5 years.
I have seen many hearing aid companies try to start up and compete with the big six. They all fail.
I fear for the next decade or so we will see the hearing impaired mature community get set back decades to inadequate hearing aids with little or no service.
I will offer anyone with a hearing loss to try any device for free and then decide.
I hope other professionals will follow suit and truly educate consumers rather than manipulate them.
If someone says I am a rip off artist my feeling is that they are rational and just don’t have enough information.
Meanwhile my clients continue to do quite well and are confident in my products which are carefully detailed compositions of technology and service tailored to their specific needs.
The internet has been an asset for both information and unfortunately a detriment for misinformation.
This conversation needs to happen out in the open backed with more studies and minus the assumptions and emotions from those that buy into conspiracy theories.
I welcome that discussion.
Btw, the hearing aids that re offered for under 500.00 have a markup of well over 200 percent and rarely are worn daily. I have yet to see anyone that has done well with them.
There is a huge difference and a quality manufacture will insist that their products be sold by a dedicated and knowledgeable licensed practioneer.
If you are an audiologist or practitioner stuck in the 90s your days may be numbered. It is high time we all offer true value and honestly educate our clients. The option will be a generation of hearing impaired people smugly buying junk from 18 year old internet entrepreneurs that don’t know the difference between recruitment and normal loudness tolerance; or the difference between normal occlusion and a middle ear problem.
My fitting rooms are calibrated and one of many protocols I have is to maintain as little loss of speech discrimination as possible. This can only be achieved with repeatable testing protocol in an office environment.
This is the tip of the ice berg. I have referred hundreds of people that thought they needed hearing aids but had anything from otitis media to a tumor on the auditory pathway.
If one ear is worse than the other regardless of bone conduction results, this is a huge red flag. I could go on for hours.
I truly hope most people investigate further than comparing hearing aid prices to cell phones.