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Getting new hearing aids through Kaiser in Maryland

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Good afternoon to all,

Hope everyone is doing well. I am about to switch my audiology to Kaiser as my current private audiologist is retiring and I would like to explore the pricing options Kaiser offers. I am looking at either the Phonak Spheres or the Oticon intents. From what I have read these are great for those struggling in noisy environments who have severe hearing loss. Has anyone had experience purchasing aids through Kaiser and if so how was their service overall? I am being told by other audiologists that Phonak’s customer service and repair team is very slow and unresponsive, has anyone experienced this? I would greatly appreciate any input you have as to kaiser, and or features of the Spheres or Intents. Thanks for all your input and assistance.

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The experience is much like what you’d have with your , complete with the same time limitations (My KP PCP office visits are limited to 15 min or so, always very quick).

With KP, service varies a lot from site to site. I’m with KP Nor California.

The audiology department is ok (nothing exceptional, much like everything else in KP), but I was really dissatisfied with the fitting process and the audiologist I saw. Everything felt rushed, the wait time for an appointment was long, and every question I asked was met with, “you’ll get used to it.” On the plus side, like with your PCP, you can email your questions and get responses promptly since providers are required to reply within a certain timeframe. The pricing and overall process were very transparent. All service, supplies, fittings, etc. are included in the price and you won’t need to contact Phonak (except for bluetooth questions). KP is large enough to be a top priority for Phonak. You will communicate with your fitter the same way you communicate with your PCP: The KP app. You warranty will also cover loss (I think the deductible is $300/aid).

You may want to consider Costco: My experience with Costco was miles better (and significantly cheaper).

Be careful when you say cheaper. In the Seattle area that is not the case if you pay the extra $22 monthly charge for hearing aids with their Medicare Advantage plan with a hearing aid, transportation. chiropractor, and acupuncture benefit. The benefit for hearing aids is $4,000 every two years.

So always check your plan benefits and ask for the price at your local Kaiser location.

That’s why I said in my comment “in my experience “ . I was being careful in my note .

There are tons of different types of insurances plans with KP and they cover different amounts depending on the sponsor /different co-pays (I am not old enough for MediCare). My best friend went to KP last week and KP’s required co-pay was ~$2500 for aids .

I will certainly ask and see I really hope it’s not $5000 which is what my old audi charges for phonak. As far as features, I’m considering phonab because they use bluetooth classic rather than MFI like my widex moments 440’s, which lose connection all the time. What are your thoughts on either brand?

I have both ( the Widex Moment SmartRIC) and Infinios).

I love the Widex sound with PureSound but the is not good (I can’t stream with the phone in my pocket).

Yes , connectivity is significantly better with Phonaks vs the Moments (I use an iPhone ).

The new Widex allure has Bluetooth : the connectivity should be better with phones that have that feature.

How is connection and battery life between the Intents and the Spheres? The one sticking point for me is that Phonak is taking their sweet time enabling .

Totally agree. Call them. They will tell you how much they charge for the brands and models of hearing aid that you are interested in purchasing.

In reply to @Nikosman

@Nikosman said:

What are your thoughts on either brand?

If you have a newer Samsung or Pixel phone, then the Oticon will have excellent Bluetooth connectivity since it uses the newer Bluetooth standard.

I haven’t experienced any drops with my Philips 9050 hearing aids and a Pixel 10 phone yet. The old Bluetooth standard with the Philips 9040 hearing aids would drop out all the time.

If Bluetooth connectivity is important to your, then the key is a new phone or used phone that has LE Audio capability and hearing aids that support it for rock solid Bluetooth. I believe both the Oticon and Phonak hearing aids that you are considering have LE Audio capability.

So it really depends on what you find the most important. The Phonak should have better hearing-in-noise, but it lacks . The Oticon has Auracast, but my not be as good in a hearing-in-noise situation. Either way, I would budget for a new or used phone with LE Audio, if you don’t already have one.

I will ask Kaiser when i see them on April 2, the main office could not tell me, or would not. I have an IPhone 14 Pro which should be good for either aid. Another reason I am considering Phonak is because I struggle to hear my clients in work meetings, or when it is crowded. Do you think Phonak will enable or create a totally new hearing aid just for Auracast? I know this is speculation but.

Edited

IPhones don’t come with .

Who knows what Phonak has planned for . So far, they don’t seem to be in a hurry to make it available. We know they have been testing it, and I believe the hardware is in the Sphere. So it’s always possible that Phonak could turn it on at some point.

Edit.

I forgot that you can get Auracast if your hearing aids offer it by using one the hearing aid manufacture’s app.

Yeah we will wait and see. How about the battery life, do the intents and spheres hold a similar charge under normal use?

@Nikosman said:

Do you think Phonak will enable Auracast or create a totally new hearing aid just for Auracast?

Phonak has said they will have an update to the existing spheres that will enable . However, they have not explicitly stated whether they will also enable for streaming. The hearing aids have the hardware capability for that, but it is currently unknown whether there will be a software update to provide that capability in addition to Auracast.

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