An elderly couple came to see me for a medical problem related to BP. I had hard time communicating with the wife. The husband said, 'She is waiting to get a hearing aid.' Medicare will cover the hearing aids only for severe hearing deficit, but not for her moderate hearing deficit. The cheap hearing aids they bought over the internet did not work for her. She saw an audiologist and she was offered two hearing aids for $4,000. They did not have the money to pay for these.
I investigated the hearing aid issue. I was not familiar with it at all. It turns out that the cost price of a good quality hearing aid is less than $500. But because of the mark up by a few companies, and the commission that is paid off during the whole process, drives it up to any where from $2,500 to $5,000.
I feel sad about the elderly couple. In our great nation the senior citizens have to accept a handicap of being halfway deaf. The price is outrageous for hearing aids and out of reach for many. Is there a solution for them?
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