Do you know people who are losing their hearing? This can be expensive!

Hearing aids cost as little as $100 to make but sell for thousands and most insurers don’t cover them.

A 2015 report by former President Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology placed the typical list price of a single hearing aid at $2,400 — a 1,100% markup if the device costs $200 to produce. Other consumer goods — TVs, laptops, cellphones — get cheaper over time, but not life-saving and life-enhancing products.

About $177 billion worth of medical devices, including hearing aids, were sold in this country last year.  By 2028 U.S. sales of medical devices will reach $262.4 billion — a roughly 48% increase from last year’s total.

Price gouging is common. Frequent victims of hearing aid scams are the disabled and the elderly. The increase of chronic diseases and the increasing geriatric population in the country are the key market drivers

Hearing aids, like other medical devices, are made by a few handful of companies with captive markets and able to charge unconscionably high list prices.

The limited competition allows the medical device companies to charge higher prices because they do not have competitors who can underprice them.  Public officials have for years called for regulation of drug and medical prices, but smothering lobbying by the drug and medical device manufacturers prevents reform from happening. The problem with the status quo is that prices never seem to go down. Prices keep rising.

The Food and Drug Administration is proposing a new rule to offer a new category of over-the-counter hearing aids in an attempt to boost accessibility and lower costs for the devices for Americans.

The agency announced its proposal on Tuesday that would allow certain hearing aids to be sold over the counter directly to the millions of adults who have “perceived mild to moderate” hearing loss, once it is finalized. 

Officials expect the proposed regulations to “likely” allow less costly hearing aids to be sold and available to the public, thus increasing competition in the market. Hearing aids can cost thousands of dollars and aren’t usually covered by traditional Medicare or private insurance, and advocates argue that making them available over the counter can drastically lower the price. 

The FDA’s proposal implements the Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Act, which was signed into law as part of the FDA Reauthorization Act of 2017. 

Of course, the rule is just a proposal and major pushback is expected from hearing aid manufacturers and audiologist groups.

Reaction from senators: Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who introduced the 2017 law, praised the FDA’s proposal as “terrific news” in a joint statement.

“We’ve just cleared a major regulatory hurdle for over-the-counter hearing aids,” the senators said. “Soon, millions of people with mild to moderate hearing loss will finally have lower-cost hearing aid options — and more options mean more competition in the market, further driving down the cost for consumers.”

Even more of an effect on the cost of health care will be the provision in the Infrastructure Bill that will pay for hearing in Medicare in 2023. If you want to wait and the bill passes, you may get hearing aids at a MUCH reduced cost.

Taking advantage of sick people is wrong.  How much does it cost to make a hearing aid?  There are references in the New York Times and elsewhere to a manufacturing price as low as $100, but they routinely cost in the thousands.