Starkey AMP?

I don’t think we can say with certainty that the ‘majority’ of hard of hearing people find $1,500 to be a lot of money necessarily. That’s a pretty bold statistic which we have not researched.

In any case a couple of grand for hearing aids works out to be about $54 a month on a 48 month finance program including interest (12.99% APR) and no down payment. It is also a medical expense that can be used as a deduction.

If a patient is so poor that they cannot afford that kind of payment, Starkey Hearing Foundation offer free hearing aids through their charity Hear Now program which costs just $250 for a pair of hearing aids often worth over $3,000 or more retail.

So there are options for most people. The ones who get screwed are generally the ones who saved for retirement, but not quite enough. So they are too ‘rich’ to get the charity help, and are too poor, or have credit problems that would prevent them from financing $54 a month. Although that said such a person could get one hearing aid, and later buy a second, which cuts the price/payment in half.

ZCT, you are correct about that being a statement that has not been researched. I should have qualified it to reflect the extent of my knowledge that includes input from acquaintances in the HA business. I should have said when referring to the hard of hearing,“those in the area of NE Okla, SE Kans and SW MO”. That particular area does not experience the higher income levels of some of the metropolitan areas you work in. I also can tell you this, I referred my sister, who is a nurse, to a HA specialist in that area and she was able to get a pair of bluetooth aids for the $1,500 figure. A widely recognized brand I might ad. I may end up getting some there as I’m afraid I won’t be able to afford Starkey, Phonak or Oticon (I have Epoqs) again. Other wise it’s there or Costco.

I think you’d be surprised actually how much people are prepared to spend on their hearing. I did a lot of work in rural Tennessee, nowhere near any rich metropolitan areas, and because I was working for a greedy business owner my average sale was $3000 per hearing aid (he was among the most expensive retailers in town). And that was a few years ago.

In my current role I have visited some very rural areas in various southern and eastern states including places that are an hour from any decent sized airport, and there is still money for hearing when it comes down to it.

The only time I really experienced a noticeably ‘richer’ clientele on my travels was perhaps in Austin or certain parts of Houston (near NASA), where clearly we were dealing with richer retirees.

What’s really surprising too, is how willing a patient will be to drop $6,000 without doing any research, or asking that many questions. If I were spending that kind of money I would have done weeks of research and no exactly what I was doing before going to see someone.