Why are hearing aids so expensive?
The short answer is that they are really not expensive compared to other medical and health related devices. Hearing aids seem costly because you generally have to pay for the device and all the years that you will use it up front. Compared to other consumer items, hearing aids in adjusted current dollars are less expensive than they were 20 years ago, and are much better in quality and performance. The per hour cost of wearing hearing aids, including the cost of the battery, is about the same as watching cable television, and much less than talking on the phone. Unlike computers, the worldwide market for hearing aids is very small, and the money that the manufacturer spends on research and development of these wonderful devices is expensive and is also reflected in the purchase price.
Hearing aids are expensive. A hearing aid with many “bells and whistles” will be more expensive than a hearing aid with fewer options. Size also plays a part in price. The smaller the hearing aid, the more expensive it is, because the parts have to be smaller. Other factors that also influence the price of hearing aids are the research involved to develop the new technology, the time of your hearing specialist and the cost of services included with the purchase (follow up visits, batteries, warranties, etc.).
I feel that I dont have a good answer for them. So why are hearing aids expensive? When we look at the increase in hearing aid prices attributable to inflation from 1960 to 2005, we actually see that hearing aids are comparatively less expensive today than they were in the 1960s. The following graph, adapted from Doyle (2005), shows the trend of hearing aid prices over time. An analog BTE in the 1960s with a single frequency response, omni directional microphone, and a possible trim pot sold for $350 retail. The same hearing aid when adjusted for inflation would cost about $2,400 in 2005. In 1985, a similar, more technologically advanced hearing aid (indicated by the white bar) was 1/3 the retail price of the 1960 device adjusted for inflation. Continuing on in 1995, programmable hearing aids, including all styles, cost less than the 1960 hearing aid as well. Lastly, the average price of a digital programmable device in 2005 is less expensive and more advanced than the 1960 HA adjusted
” Twenty five years ago I remember writing a piece that asked why we, when we can put a man on the moon and hear him at Mission Control, we cannot not invent a good, cheap hearing aid. Such hearing aids still aren’t available. Today technology enables our police and intelligence personnel to isolate certain sounds in the midst of many others, and there’s technology to reconstruct recordings that have degraded, but we still have hearing aids that can’t help us in noisy settings. Adding insult to injury is the continuing failure to make the hearing aids we do have available to people who need them. People who experience hearing loss are dumbfounded to find there is so little help to purchase them. Our NVRC fact sheet “Financial Assistance for Buying Hearing Aids” is a publication that flies off the shelves. But it’s largely depressing news. If you are poor, especially if you are a child, you probably qualify for a program that will help buy the hearing aids. If you are rich, you can hand
