Hearing Aids -- seriously

it's no different the drugs, someone is making a lot of money

 

Maybe that is what you want. But most of those things are produced and marketed by vendors that follow Capitalist principles, which include to be as profitable as possible, which often means charging the highest price that the market will bear.

This runs into a problem in the medical field, where a lot of people feel that when it comes to their own health, money is no object. They'll pay whatever it takes. And for the large majority of health care consumers ('patients' is simply not the right term for a capitalistic free market), the money isn't coming immediately and directly from their own pocket, so it is easy to not care about pricing and simply get whatever is available immediately at hand, with no price shopping at all.

With this sort of customer-vs-seller market philosophy mismatch, prices are essentially guaranteed to climb sky high. Pure capitalists are supposed to set prices high enough that a significant portion of potential customers balk and refuse to buy. At the 'right' price balance point, the customers that still buy will completely make up for those that won't.

Maybe this is why so many people want fundamental change to our profit-based health care system ...

 

We live in a "capitalistic" economic society.
That's just how it works........without meaningful regulation.

Would you maybe prefer that those devices are not available AT ALL ?

Then politics comes into play.......so that's the end of this discussion for me.

 

Walmart has behind the ear sets for $500. They apparently are preset to amplify the high frequency sounds that are a common problem in speech recognition. I saw them at a Walmart recently, so you can buy them off the shelf and return them if they don't seem to help.Walmart doesn't have a hearing department like Costco, so no hearing tests or customer service. Could be worth a try for someone who can't afford more.

For $575 there is a bluetooth enabled version that connects to a smartphone app to adjust the device.

Part of what you pay fro elsewhere is the in person individualized customer service.

 

Earlier this year, I was in the market for a number of "medical devices," not covered by insurance, including walker, and various aids. Local medical supply stores had said items -- and this is a broad generalization -- for around 60 to 80 percent more than I could find if I did some aggressive price shopping online.

While I DO like to support local business when possible, my cash supply is not endless and I ended up ordering pretty much everything. And, nowadays, nearly everything is delivered in two to three days.

Ended up donating all that could be donated, to the local humane society thrift store at the end of summer so someone else could save a few pennies.

No need for hearing aid yet. After a car accident about this time last year, I was left with what is hard to describe, but basically an imbalance in pressure in the right ear, the side of my head that got slammed when the passenger-side of a car dashboard was slammed into the side of my head. I was getting strange whistle sounds and strange echoes. Made it difficult to hear and difficult to think and form sentences.

Luckily, it cleared up after ONLY four months. But, as usual, guess I am off-topic. Time to watch the Seahawks game, anyway.

 

go hawks!

 

I wonder if the price of medical goods is affected by liability. In America some states have no limit on medical liability and people get exorbitant amounts of money for medical lawsuits. Apparently in some states (unfortunately my state is an example of this) Doctors will leave the state to find states with liability caps that make their insurance more affordable.

My wife fell and fractured her pelvis this summer while playing basketball of all things. I was shocked at the cost of a walker, shower stools and bathroom assists as well as wheel chair rental. Is the high cost a way these manufacturers are able to fund liability insurance for their products?

 

the question is net profit after expenses. unless they're public, who knows? i have no doubt there is collusion between manufacturers, because they're pricing is too similar. but that can be said about a lot of things.

it all changes jan. 1, then we'll see how interested and competitive other manufacturers are, like the ones who sell thousand dollar phones

 

That would be a piece of the issue, but not the whole story or even the largest part of it.

 

Mine too. They are 10 yrs old. Wonder if they have improved at all.

 

I thought that some DO.
And some Sams Clubs too.
Not true ??

 

Is another part of it insurance?

 

I'd portray liability, and liability insurance, as being different spellings of the same part.

 

true, I was thinking insurance benefits, since the conversation swayed a bit, including other medical supplies and devices.
I realize from reading this thread that hearing aids are not covered. I had no idea.
I do remember last century when HMO's were the new thing and how the health system changed from a patient care model to a bottom line model. It's been quite a ride for Health Care since then.

 

Modern hearing aids are not just sound amplifiers: they are multi-channel signal-processing systems controlled by programmable microprocessors.

A friend went to one of the hearing-aid places that does a lot of advertising locally. They set him up with a pair to try for two weeks but wouldn't tell him how much they were going to cost. He said they seemed to be OK, but when he went back after the trial period and they told him they were going to cost $6,000 and he told them "no way," they tried to make him feel guilty for having tried them and then said "no." He got his from Costco for $1,800.

I am on my second pair from Costco -- Kirkland Signature, made by Rexton, which is/was part of Siemens, which is now Signia.

Costco sells other brands as well, some of them with more channels and with anti-tinnitus capabilities.

Our "Medicare upgrade" program is now going to cover hearing aids through TruHearing, which may or may not be a better deal than Costco. But I think my current aids are going to work OK for another year or more.

 

For half that price you can get Kirkland Signature hearing aids from Costco. They are basically "last year's model" from one of the major manufacturers but at a much lower price. Any domes, filters, and adjustments are done at no extra charge too.

If you are not happy with your local Costco, you can just choose to go to a different store for the same free service.

https://www.costco.com/kirkland-signature-hearing-aid.html

 

Oh my, yes. They can non-invasively measure the frequency response curve of each ear now. The results are still rather coarse, but I can see the difference in frequency loss from my right ear to my left, something that I can actually hear. Then they apply a "correction" curve to each aid, which just nearly brings me back up to natural hearing. Then there is technology that uses all four microphones, two on each ear, in a directional capacity to really focus reception on voices and other important sounds. It's just plain magic in a noisy environment talking with friends. I've been wearing my current set for 3 years, so it's soon time for an upgrade. The newer products have Bluetooth capability, but I hear from friends that it is buggy. Think I'll wait until next year's model.

 

I'd counter with some very assertive feedback about nasty underhanded sales practices, to be noted in online business reviews and possibly to the state's Attorney General or Consumer Protection Board.

That is, if I even tried them in the first place. Normally I'm very leery of products with hidden prices, and probably would have walked away when they initially refused to provide it.

And now that regular medical providers are legally forced to provide standard pricing up front when asked, it is time to start applying the same practices to them, and challenging them on their errors and omissions.

 

That wording is a bit misleading.
They must tell you what THEIR price is for any given procedure.....but there really is nothing "standard" about it.

 

That is what I meant -- a listing of their standard prices for the products and services of interest.