What to do when you can't afford expensive hearing aids

@charly1954 said:

Small town we don’t have a Office of Vocational Rehabilitation. We do have a Senior Citizens Center, I may go down there and see if I can get some advice. As I said I do not have a job I retired last year when I turned 62.

I’ve had hearing problems for last 10-15 yrs, I may just have to live the rest of my life w/out a HA. I’m used to it, tks all for the input.

OK. But I live in a very small town as well. Find the nearest main town/city and inquire there. I bet you might be able to make some headway there. Hope you can get the issues resolved.

I wonder if that is the case in the US (honest question). The only audiology department I have any knowledge of is Kaiser in California and their price for a pair of basic aids is $2500. Costco does have some in the ear aids for $499 per aid. An acquaintance went to several chain type stores (Beltone, Miracle Ear, etc.) and managed to buy used hearing aids for a pretty good price.

@Neville said: (unavailable)

Talk to the audiologists in your area about what their options are for low cost hearing aids. If you have a frank discussion about your means, I think most professionals would try to find a soluation. I know everyone here is saying costco costco, but clinic budget hearing aids in my area are <$400 (per aid), they are decent quality, they come with full warranties, etc. That’s going to be much better than going the PSAP route. If that’s still too much, many audiologists will still work with you to find other options (leasing, finincing, donation hearing aids, financial support programs).

Some audiologists even do payment plans. That could be an option?

Thank you MDB, KenP and seb for the answers about Costco.

@Doc_Jake said:

Without an audiogram everyone’s suggestion is guessing at best!

He doesn’t sound that motivated.

Most of the major manufacturer website have a 1/2 ass diy hearing test… Hell maybe his wife does mumble!

I can not believe the moderator lets people talk like this to others, maybe this is not a nice forum to be on.

I come here for a little input and get some joker(jerk) reply like this. I take sever umbridge saying my wife may mumble. If you’re a man U R very lucky you didn’t say that to me in person, I may be 63 but I’m a tuff old senior.

Dr Jake said: " He doesn’t sound that motivated.Most of the major manufacturer website have a 1/2 ass diy hearing test "
With kids in here you are aloud to use the “A” word?
Was you born that way or do you just like talking down to people, hard to be motivated about something if you don’t have the money to pay for the motivation. Online test you have to own earphones, I do not have any. And FYI it does cost to get a audiogram I’ve checked in my town, you want me to spend $100 or more for a office visit just so you can see the test. Do you want to pay for it?

Edited: Tks everyone for all the help and input I really appreciate it. This Tk U is directed to everyone but Dr Jake.

@charly1954 said:

I may not have explained it right. I have read many articles online and can’t remember where I read it. But I thought I read using a PSAP could damage your hearing. Maybe its a HA can filter out some noise or auto adjust when a loud noise happens and a PSAP don’t. I found this article I read last week by the FDA(link below) where the FDA does not recommend wearing PSAP’s if you have a hearing loss. My hearing is bad enough I would hate to buy a cheap PSAP and get more damage. But as I said I can’t afford a an expensive HA so I may be stuck with having to use a PSAP or do without.

https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm185459.htm

Thanks for sharing this article. The way I read what they say is that they don’t advise PSAP if you really need HA because if you went with PSAP, your hearing loss may not be treated properly due to the lack of a professional to evaluate your need and proper treatment via an HA. The “damage” due to PSAP here is simply the delay of having proper treatment (via a proper HA evaluated by a proper professional) and the delay can lead to worsened condition and complication.

Of course if you don’t know what the proper volume level to listen to and crank the volume up more than you should on the PSAP then it can lead to damage as well. At least with a professional, they’ll follow protocols to make sure the proper volume level is set on the HA for you.

Every suggestion, you have replied why you can’t… If you live in a 3k size town you are going to have to motivate yourself and drive to your county seat where you can some of the government solutions suggested or to a larger town. The aids aren’t going to drop from the sky! Lighten up you said you wife sounded like she mumbles hell for all you know she does. If you’re here fishing for a handout good luck!

Have you had your ears cleaned lately?

@charly1954 said:

I can not believe the moderator lets people talk like this to others, maybe this is not a nice forum to be on.

I come here for a little input and get some joker(jerk) reply like this. I take sever umbridge saying my wife may mumble. If you’re a man U R very lucky you didn’t say that to me in person, I may be 63 but I’m a tuff old senior.

Dr Jake said: " He doesn’t sound that motivated.Most of the major manufacturer website have a 1/2 ass diy hearing test "
With kids in here you are aloud to use the “A” word?
Was you born that way or do you just like talking down to people, hard to be motivated about something if you don’t have the money to pay for the motivation. Online test you have to own earphones, I do not have any. And FYI it does cost to get a audiogram I’ve checked in my town, you want me to spend $100 or more for a office visit just so you can see the test. Do you want to pay for it?

Edited: Tks everyone for all the help and input I really appreciate it. This Tk U is directed to everyone but Dr Jake.

@Doc_Jake said:

Every suggestion, you have replied why you can’t… If you live in a 3k size town you are going to have to motivate yourself and drive to your county seat where you can some of the government solutions suggested or to a larger town. The aids aren’t going to drop from the sky! Lighten up you said you wife sounded like she mumbles hell for all you know she does. If you’re here fishing for a handout good luck!

Have you had your ears cleaned lately?

Again, there are kids in here why are people aloud to curse and why are senior members aloud to harrash newbees.

Back off punk, keep talking about my wife and u’ll have a big problem. I am in Logansport Indiana(PM me fore exact address), come visit me and we’ll talk about your insulting problem.

Now with the bill passed to purchase HA online without a medical exam things got easier…with caveats

You can have a hearing test done at an audiologist, most insurance will pay for testing even if they don’t pay anything for aids, since it’s a medical test. You can ask for a copy and submit it to an online provider such as Widex (I have no association with them, it’s just that I used them in the past) https://www.widex.com7 . They also provide online testing of their own but I don’t know how good it is. AARP also has a test which I understand is quite reliable for what it does (it’s a phone test). It’s free for AARP members $5 for non members Verify your AARP membership15

If your hearing loss is complex your fitting may not be as good but I have a severe loss and once went this route and found the aids to be fine. You have a choice . Of course of aids, the ones without bells and whistles obviously less expensive. Downsides are you don’t have a relationship with an audiologist, you don’t get a “medical” evaluation to see if your problem can be medically helped, and if you have a problem and need to send the aid back for repair you don’t get a “loner”. Your aid may or may not be programmed perfectly.

It’s not the best or even recommended approach but it’s far far better than not hearing and have your brain start losing the capability to process sound

An idea worth considering is very simply trying out a set of hearing aids (take them for a spin, so to speak) to see what might be worth your while. Bernafon and Unitron have particularly handy solutions for this. Try out a set of the “lowest tier” hearing aids with a Hearing Instrument Practitioner in your area. If you don’t have one, call up Bernafon and Unitron to see if they can get you started.

The Bernafon process (BeFlex) lets you try out more than one price-point at the press of a button. See https://youtu.be/405GrnGz1MA7. The Unitron (Flex:Trial) approach is to try out (for example) the lowest level and then to upgrade as budget allows. As for some of the cheap approaches out there though, folks often say “I wish I had my 20 bucks back.” While you are trying things, see how far a Pocket Talker 28 or a Sennheiser A2005 gets you. It’s all worth a try.

Now if you have an iPhone this also could be worth trying out: Fennex23

@KenP said:

Doc_Jake was banned before the move here, @charly1954. He was able to get the bile flowing.

Yeah, But most times his judgement is correct. So Chill out @charly1954
Your comments aren’t exactly endearing,

@charly1954 said:

Look you little Schwuchtel , I never said my wife mumbled I said, “Lots of times I have to ask my wife to repeat what she says 2-3-4 times cause I can not make all the words out even when shes only a few feet away. I can hear her talk but the words don’t register.”

Maybe you need glasses to straighten your crossed eyes out, that way you can actually understand what people write. Its sad a few blowhards like you turn a legit site into a site its ok to bully others…

I’m not looking for a handout you snowflake, just something reasonable. My house is paid for, I don’t owe a dime and never taken a dime from anyone. I worked for everthing I have and for a caring forum I can’t believe they let Schwuchtel’s like you post here.

Come see me someday we’ll have a big old fashion talk, I imagine you’ll mumble the rest of your life after I’m done.

Hi there! Great question here.

I also spent a lot of time at the start researching inexpensive options to hear better. It seems any hearing aid that’s worth while will cost you over $1000 for the pair.

There are PSAP’s for less money though… basically they are quiet sound amplifiers so they will increase the volume of soft sounds for you. Problem with these is if you get a really cheap one, then it makes everything louder and it’s hard to understand what the heck is happening around you. There is a newer one out that has background noise reduction… so it will boost soft sounds, but not background noise like when you are in a busy coffee shop. It’s called the Otofonix Personal Sound Amplifier. If you Google it, there website should show up for you. I think they cost roughly $500 (not sure about that), but from all the reviews I’ve read - seems well worth the money. People seem actually really happy with them. Oh and they have some sort of full return policy for 30 days. So that’s nice.

I also came across another lower priced hearing product called the Etymotic Bean. The reviews I’ve read people reallllly like this one too. May be worth Googling.

Best of luck to you. I hope you find something that you can afford that works for you.

There is no substitute for quality ha and a proper fitting. I just googled “free hearing aids” . There is an abundance of good advice for free and low cost
Providers as well as ha banks which offer donated aids. Good luck with your search your hearing is worth it.

Ole Doc Jake was a real dick wasn’t he Kenny? The guy never confused facts with hugs and bs.