Over-the-counter hearing aids are coming at long last. But lower prices and greater accessibility may take time to materialize.
By Paula Span in the NYT
The world of hearing health will change on Oct. 17, when the Food and Drug Administration’s new regulations, announced in August, will make quality hearing aids an over-the-counter product.
It just won’t transform as quickly or as dramatically, at least at first, as advocates, technology and consumer electronics companies and people with mild to moderate hearing loss have been hoping.
“It finally, actually happened after all these years,” said Dr. Frank Lin, the director of the Johns Hopkins Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health and a longtime supporter of the regulations, which Congress authorized five years ago.
“Ninety-plus percent of adults with hearing loss have needs that can be served by over-the-counter hearing aids,” he said. For decades, the sale of hearing aids was restricted to licensed audiologists and other professionals; that has kept prices high — prescription hearing aids can cost $4,000 to $5,000 — and access limited. In contrast, the regulations provide “a clear glide path for new companies to enter this field,” Dr. Lin said.
But, he quickly added, “it may be the Wild West for the next few years.”
Barbara Kelley, the executive director of the Hearing Loss Association of America, concurred: “It’s a new frontier, and it is confusing. We need time to see how the market settles out.”
In an ideal scenario, a person would be able to walk into almost any pharmacy or big-box store and buy a sophisticated pair of hearing aids for a few hundred dollars, no prescription required. But the shift won’t materialize right away, experts say.