Choosing Hearing Aids – Some Things to Consider

Our reader Randy had a few questions about buying hearing aids so I thought I’d post the answers for everyone. Thanks Randy!

Are they visible?

Well, they’re not invisible. But, they hide pretty well. I have the behind-the-ear, also known as receiver-in-canal style pictured below.

Compare this to the Eargo 7, which fits completely in the ear.

I didn’t include an in-ear picture as there is almost nothing to see. I demo’d an earlier version of these and they have a clear pull tab which allows you to seat them in the ear and remove them and they are almost invisible.

Sony makes a lower price alternative that is highly-rated.

Comparing

How the hearing aids feel is important. One reason I stopped wearing my original pair was that they were not comfortable for 8-12 hours a day. Trying them on for 10 minutes won’t tell you this. Most hearing aids offer a free trial. Try a couple and compare.

Features

I talk a lot about features here, so I won’t go through this again. One thing to consider when comparing in-ear v. receiver-in-canal is the features supported.

Hearing aids have complex computer processors that adjust the sound that we end up hearing. In-ear hearing aids have less room for computer equipment so they’ll likely have less features and may not be able to adjust for your particular hearing loss. All the more reason to compare.

And the battery will likely be smaller on an in-ear hearing aid. Sony advertises 28 hour battery life, but be sure to look carefully. My original Eargos ran out during the day.

Many in-ear hearing aids often don’t offer bluetooth streaming. They connect to your phone and allow you to adjust settings, but unlike many receiver-in-canal hearing aids, they wont allow you to stream phone calls, podcasts or music.

Make sure the hearing aid you choose has the features you need.

Cost

You’ll likely pay anywhere from $300 to $6,000 for a pair of hearing aids. Higher prices tend to get you better sound quality, more features, smaller size, better battery life, maybe a warranty and technical support.

A great place to compare is soundly.com. They don’t sell their own hearing aids so they seem to be pretty impartial. They do make a commission on some if you buy through them, but they are pretty up-front about this. I have had good experiences on their site and calling their folks for personalized advice.

Insurance

Does insurance cover hearing aids? Maybe.

My plan when I was working reimbursed me for about $2,000 on a $5,000 purchase. Pretty sweet. I had a good plan.

My current plan (retired and paying 100% out of pocket) ain’t bad but it doesn’t cover hearing aids.

From what I’ve read, medicare does not, but if you have an advantage plan it may. Read more here from US News and World Report.

Not insurance, but AARP offers discounts. Check it out here. AARP is a good source of info. Lot’s of great stuff and you don’t have to be a member for a lot of it. Membership is less than $20 a year.

Warranty

We’re spending a good chunk of change, it’s nice if the hearing aids come with a warranty. My Jabra Enhance 500s that cost $1,999 come with 3 years of warranty and 3 years of loss and damage protection. If I forget to take them out and jump in the pool, they’ll send me new ones (one time).

Support

If you choose to go to an audiologist locally, you’ll likely get unlimited appointments to ask for help and have your hearing aids adjusted. My experience with the OTC hearing aids I’ve tried is that you get somewhat less support, but I found that they really bend over backwards to make the experience pleasant and effective.

The lowest price hearing aid I tried was the Lexie B2 by Bose. It was marketed as a do-it-yourself hearing aid. I purchased it for $699. 3 times during my trial I needed support. I opened the app and asked a question and with 15 minutes a real person called me and walked me through a solution.

Compare this with hear.com, which has its clinic-in-a-box. The hearing aids ship with a huge box containing a windows tablet, headphones and all the equipment necessary for an audiologist to perform a virtual visit with hearing test. Subsequent to the initial fitting, I had several virtual appointments for adjustments and questions.

First Class Comfort

My buddy Mike is an advocate for custom vented receivers. His audiologist takes a mold of his inner ear and builds a custom receiver for him. He says it is life-changing.

I’ve not been able to find an online version of this and since over-the-counter has eaten the audiologist’s lunch, I suspect they’ll not be eager to fit a custom receiver to my low-priced OTC hearing aids.

Wrap-Up

Randy, thanks for your follow-up questions and Mike, thanks for the tip on custom ear molds.

Hearing health is important. Not just because it is annoying to ask folks to repeat themselves, but it is linked to cognitive health.

The good news is there are lots of choices and prices are coming down. Also, many vendors offer free trials. I’ve tried several and they were helpful and I got my purchase price back in full when I returned them at the end of the trial.

Be sure to do some research on the available features and know which ones are a must for you. Use sites like soundly, that are not affiliated with a specific brand, to get some unbiased (or at least less-biased) opinions. If someone’s giving you advice, ask them how they get paid.

Any additional questions, please post in the comments and I’ll get back.