What's with the crazy hearing aid pricing differences in Costco versus chain hearing clinics?

When will the US catch up with our northern neighbor?

I doubt that Canada and The U.S. will EVER have identical laws, customs, and practices. I was born Canadian, but spent 37 of my 73 years in The U.S.

My impression after living in each country is that Canada leans significantly in the 'Socialist" direction, where taking care of people’s needs as a WHOLE is the recurring theme, while The U.S. leans towards a much purer form of capitalism, where individual rights and freedoms are much broader.

One of the most vivid examples in the different outcomes due to these different perspectives, is in the medical system as a whole.

In The U.S. the only broad government provision of medical services is in Medicare, and that only affects the elderly and the disabled. All other people get served via private medicine working with private health insurance firms. Any dental and hearing needs seems to be private, except where private health insurance has ben provided to a fraction of people via employer benefit plans.

In Canada, it is against the law to charge for medical services. ALL medical except dental and hearing is provided to EVERYONE by Federal and Provincial law. In addition, Seniors, disabled, and children get extra coverage with no or minimal copays for prescriptions for example. Seniors get up to $900 every 3 years to help pay for hearing aids. I believe also that people with certifiably severe and profound hearing losses get better hearing cost coverage, but I have not researched that - just saw mentions of it. Dental coverage is free to low income families, but most familites either get dental coverage via employer benefits or pay the entire cost themselves.

In The U.S. indiivdual freedom is highly valued, and capitalistic success is rewarded handsomely. In The U.S. many individuals resisted COVID mandates and recommendations.

In Canada, COLLECTIVE health, peace, and safety are valued above individudal freedoms. Canada does NOT have a constituional guarantee of “free speech”. All handgun are now banned, via a devious Federal Government “order in council” that has never been debated in Parliament. And rifles that have too many military features, or “look” at all “military” are now banned. The process to get a license required to buy ANY firearm is lengthy and rigorous, and takes many months (took over a year during COVID). In Canada, most people supported COVID mandates and recommendations, except in The Province of Alberta, which we call “The Texas of the North” :).

We are interesting neighbours with differing values. My wife and I appreciate both but also are less comfortable with certain characteristics of each. Alberta, being somewhere between the majority of Canadians and the majority of Texans (where we lived for 15 years out of 37 in The U.S., most of the rest in MInnesota), strikes a tolerable balance for us.

Jim G

Long winded post but I did enjoy it.
Coming from Texas.

Interesting, although fairly flawed description of the US. What is happening and what people want are two very different things….

SORRY! I did not mean to start anyhting bad. I was just responding to peter2’s comment: “When will the US catch up with our northern neighbor?”

But you guys are right. Both Peter2 and I strayed way off the topic. It was inappropriate. This is a thread about hearing aid costs, not the cultures of the 2 nations.

Jim G

AFAIK, Resound makes the Jabra ‘Enhance Select 200’ RIC model of their line.

I am a retired former HA dispenser in New England. I am not connected in any way with any HA company.

I am probably going to get the OTC Jabra ‘Enhance Select 200’ aids in January. (my health plan, Anthem BCBS of CT, giving me a $300 benefit on OTC aids effective Jan1, 2024). This HA has been ranked #1 in many, many reviews over the last year.

From what I hear, Jabra is coming out with the ‘Enhance Select 300’ sometime in December or January. I don’t know what style or power profile they will have. I will check them out before I commit to the ‘200’.

Read the ‘fine print’ about the loss & damage coverage. IMO, that sounds too good to be true.

Ok, trust their words, but verify in the contract.

You had an audiologist at Costco?

Sorry. I used the term “audi” because I don’t know what else to call a Costco employee who took the 1-1/2 year fulltime training followed by the residency and licensing required by the province within which I live.

Jim G

@philbob57 said:

I strongly recommend that you believe this: What you need from your HCP is expertise. It doesn’t matter how they got it. If your HCP can’t set your aids up right for you, it doesn’t matter what their degree, training, or experience may be.

Sounds like good advice.

Jim G

Realise I am a bit late to the party as your original message was back in November and you got your Costco aids already but maybe this thread will be picked up by others. I went through the exact same sticker shock that you did and as a result have just picked up my first ever HAs (Philips 9040) from Costco in Ottawa 2 days ago. So far I am very happy, though I am a total noob and have nothing to compare them with (at least here in Ontario there was no option to “trial” the different ones except by purchasing them and then returning if you want to try a different model - I was also interested in the Jabras). Happy to answer specific questions as a fellow Canadian first-time buyer if anyone has any. Regarding your comments about the audiologist making a big difference, I would agree for sure, and I found mine to do a very thorough job and also be very responsive by email for aftercare (using the calling via the Philips app to add a music program that I realised I wanted and that kind of thing). As to how to find a good one - try searching for your local Costco HA centre in Google Maps and see if any of the audiologists are namechecked in reviews (mine was, though I actually only discovered this afterwards). Try going to the HA centre desk and speaking to the person at the desk (who are not the audiologists themselves) and asking whether there’s one they would particularly recommend for a customer who’s quite picky (they probably know which ones are the best for tech savvy people). I’d definitely recommend Costco in Canada for HAs and it all seemed to work out with both the provincial reimbursement and some work-associated insurance I also carry, and they were very experienced and helpful with getting all the paperwork right for that too.

PS My Costco HCP calls himself an audiologist on his instore stamp and holds a M.H.Sc. and is CASLPO-registered. Think this is Canada-specific so YMMV. Personally I’m less worried about the qualification or job title than their experience and ability so I’d agree with the “expertise” comment above. He did however happen to mention that he did an internship at the hospital ENT department where I’m followed as part of his training and it helped that he knew how all that worked.

Thank you! Also going to Ottawa and that’s very helpful. May I ask why the Philips vs Jabra? Trying to choose … also did you take the batteries or rechargeable ones?