This Monday, for the first time, adults with mild to moderate hearing loss in the US will be able to buy hearing aids without a prescription. Those under the age of 18 or those with severe hearing loss will still need a prescription.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The FDA announced the long-awaited rule change in August, opening the way to options that should be cheaper and possibly even better. Now, instead of getting a prescription and custom fitting from a hearing healthcare professional, adults can purchase hearing aids directly from a store or online. Some doctors estimate that 90% of the population with hearing loss could benefit from these over-the-counter devices. Experts say the move is a “tipping point”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We’ve been working toward affordable and accessible hearing health care for years,” said Barbara Kelley, executive director of the Hearing Loss Association of America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The number of people with hearing loss is considerable. About 1 in 8 people age 12 and older in the US have hearing loss in both ears, and the rate increases significantly with age. About a quarter of people between the ages of 65 and 74 have hearing loss, and this number increases to 50% around the age of 75.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On average, people spend at least $4,000 out of pocket on devices for both ears, according to a 2020 study published in the medical journal JAMA. Prices can vary: Large dealers may offer a pair for around $1,400, but some can go as high as $6,000 per ear, depending on the technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The FDA rule allowing the use of hearing aids without a prescription has not changed how these devices are covered. While private insurers pay for treatment after loss of a member or even cover the cost of Viagra, most do not cover hearing aids. Most Medicare plans don’t pay for them either. Only half of state Medicaid programs do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This Monday, for the first time, adults with mild to moderate hearing loss in the US will be able to buy hearing aids without a prescription. Those under the age of 18 or those with severe hearing loss will still need a prescription. The FDA announced the long-awaited rule change in August, opening the way […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4759,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[220],"tags":[1201,193,1051],"class_list":["post-4758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-hearing-aids","tag-news","tag-today"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/miaminewsnetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/miaminewsnetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/miaminewsnetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miaminewsnetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miaminewsnetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4758"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/miaminewsnetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4760,"href":"https:\/\/miaminewsnetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4758\/revisions\/4760"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miaminewsnetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/miaminewsnetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miaminewsnetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/miaminewsnetwork.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}