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Now new technology and a rare bipartisan push from lawmakers who are trying to reduce regulations for the sale of hearing aids are raising hopes that more people with mild to moderate hearing loss will be able to buy hearing devices a lot more cheaply and without seeing a doctor.
It's a modest-sounding goal, but supporters believe the measure on Capitol Hill could lower prices, spur innovation, and ultimately get hearing aids into the ears of far more people. Only 15 to 30 percent of people who need hearing aids actually get them, according to some estimates.
Currently, regulations in most states, including Massachusetts, require consumers to go to a licensed audiologist or other specialist to purchase a hearing aid. The average cost: $2,300 per ear.
Legislation sponsored by Democratic Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa would supersede individual state rules and force over-the-counter hearing aids into the national market. It has the support of AARP, which is the largest lobbying group for seniors and advocates for people with hearing loss. But it is drawing opposition from hearing aid makers and a major trade association for audiologists.
Supporters say the bill could unleash competition and put hearing aids that cost a few hundred dollars on the shelves. It could also foster technology that, among other benefits, allows consumers to use smartphones to control their hearing aids.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 13 2017, @06:03PM (13 children)
Only in America do you need to hand out your hard earned money to get around red tape buy an audio amplifier. Knew an old jew who used to wear amplifying headphones from radioshack because he didn't need to see a "silly doctor" or pay 5 grand for something he can easily loose. Wore them everywhere and wile he looked silly, they worked for him, were difficult to loose and were cheap.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 13 2017, @06:09PM (4 children)
A good example of government run amok while trying to "do the right thing" and protect consumers. FYI all you conservatives that hate liberals who support regulation: There is plenty of regulation liberal types would be happy to see disappear. We should address these items on a per-case basis because sometimes regulation is a very good thing.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Thursday April 13 2017, @06:43PM (3 children)
Regulation is only necessary when the market proves itself to be a bunch of dicks who will only act reasonably when forced.
Well, either that or we have a social agenda we want to push. Potayto, potahto ;)
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Thursday April 13 2017, @06:55PM (1 child)
Regulation is necessary to protect consumers from harm and exploitation (for instance, food laced with melamine or other poisons or drugs that harm instead of help), and to keep markets competitive (for instance, to prevent monopolies and reduce the power of large companies or oligopolies).
The problem is when this is subverted and ends up having the opposite effect from that desired, such as propping up existing oligopolies and preventing new competition.
In well-run countries, regulation usually works pretty well, but of course nothing's perfect. In really screwed-up countries, regulation doesn't help protect consumers and only helps enrich incumbent players. Use this simple classification and readily-available evidence to determine which kind of country you live in.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Friday April 14 2017, @01:24AM
Yeah, you're describing "regulatory capture," which is an oddly euphemistic term for a process that basically does to the regulatory apparatus what Cordyceps spp. do to ant brains.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday April 14 2017, @06:55PM
The filthy state of America's environment before the EPA is proof enough that regulation is necessary, and my grandfather falling down an elevator shaft is proof enough to me that OSHA is needed.
Face it, all publicly held companies are run by assholes who care about nothing but money. Kill people? Sure, why not? We don't need no steenking elevator doors! Why make it so hard for a roofer to fall, he's not important.
There can be too much regulation, or too heavy handed a regulation, but regulation itself is needed, and only fools and those who fool them think otherwise.
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(Score: 4, Interesting) by Grishnakh on Thursday April 13 2017, @06:10PM (6 children)
What's the situation like in other countries? Why can't we just buy hearing aids on AliExpress or something and get them shipped to us from China?
In fact, I just tried searching for "hearing aid" on aliexpress.com and found tons of options, such as these for about $10 [aliexpress.com]. There seem to be tons of options for under $25 per ear.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Thursday April 13 2017, @07:09PM
Chinese hearing aid will perhaps self destruct in a lithium thermite fire. Not much hearing after that.. ;)
(Score: 2) by epitaxial on Thursday April 13 2017, @09:13PM (3 children)
Hearing aids are classified as a "medical device" so that means you add an extra zero or two onto the price. Good hearing aids require a bit of tuning. The doctor will generate a curve based on the frequency and severity of the loss. Program in that filter and you're done.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday April 13 2017, @09:26PM (2 children)
Sounds like there's a business opportunity here: sell (relatively) inexpensive but nice Chinese-made hearing aids with this tuning ability, and let buyers use a software program to test their hearing themselves and program the hearing aids at home.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 14 2017, @01:23AM (1 child)
Yeah, but if you do that in the US, either the FDA will shut you down for offering unlicensed medical devices, or you'll have to go through a lengthy and expensive process to get the combination of hardware and software approved as a medical device, and it will no longer be cheap. If you do it outside the US, but shipping to the US, you may escape, but customs will soon start seizing your packages, and you'll go out of business anyway.
You can sell audio amplifiers for healthy people to eavesdrop on distant songbirds, but if you make them with tunable filtering, and supply software to test hearing loss, they're going to call it a medical device, no matter how many songbirds you draw on the packaging. While ordinary hearing aids are laxly regulated, as medical devices go, I'm pretty sure incorporating the diagnosis capability (regardless whether it's in the device proper, a separately downloadable android app, or whatever) is going to get you out of that class.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Friday April 14 2017, @02:14AM
Package it as a "fun audio amplifier that makes people sound funny". Then let some hacks leak.. (to adjust the DSP for a frequency curve)
Alternatively have it sent to Mexico and pick it up there?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by driverless on Friday April 14 2017, @08:59AM
There's a difference between those and proper hearing aids. Hearing loss isn't linear, you've typically got different degrees of attenuation at different frequencies, which is why you need a hearing test and then an aid that's tuned to the frequencies you've got the most loss in. However, that's a $100 outpatient procedure by a technician, not USD2300 per ear. The rent-seekers really have got that one sewn up over there.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Friday April 14 2017, @08:53AM
Lawmakers Want Hearing Aids to be Easier to Get, but Doctors Object
Genericised form of headline: "Lawmakers want $useful_thing to be reasonably-priced and available to all, but $rent-seeking-incumbents object".
(Score: 4, Insightful) by sjames on Thursday April 13 2017, @06:04PM (3 children)
:-)
Sorry, had to.
It's long past time for this. There's no excuse for basic hearing aids to cost over $2K/ear when we can crank out rechargeable bluetooth earpieces for well under $100/pair.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday April 13 2017, @07:09PM
You're still an order of magnitude off. I got a rechargeable bluetooth earpiece for free (with a phone purchase) around 7-8 years ago. I'm quite sure you can buy those for under $10 each on someplace like Ebay or AliExpress. Stuff like this is dirt cheap, so $2k/ear is beyond ridiculous.
(Score: 2) by esperto123 on Friday April 14 2017, @12:42PM (1 child)
Come here to say that!
it is absurd a price like that, I understand that each device model has to be certified as it is a medical device, which is a costly, but giving the number of people in need of a thing like this, it definitely wouldn't cause a 20+ fold increase in price.
A hearing aind is no different than every wireless bluetooth ear phone out there, except it hasn't the bluetooth part and flashing LEDs, and that someone has to set the equalizer, which can clearly be done by the patient itself, giving it got the audiometry results, or even without, as you can just set it by trial and error until you start listen well enough.
Shit like this shows clearly the problem with medical devices out there, the certification doesn't actually prove they are safer than a reagular mass produced device, they are crapply made, insecure, it basically only creates market monopolies or oligopolies, which allows companies to set prices to whatever they feel like.
I'm not advocating to eliminate certification process for medical devices or substances, otherwise crancks would go back to have a field day (even more than they already have) and claim all sorts of health benefits and cures without control or oversight, but it definetly needs an urgent ovehaul.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Friday April 14 2017, @01:34PM
A big part of the problem is that the FDA has no concept of risk analysis. They treat the failure of one out of two hearing aids as being just as catastrophic as the failure of a pacemaker.
I understand that at the extremes, a hearing aid could damage hearing if it's not set correctly or loses it's setting, but the FDA doesn't understand that the majority of people who would benefit from a hearing aid don't need one that goes to those extremes.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Thursday April 13 2017, @06:31PM (9 children)
I agree this law sucks, but from my 10 seconds of research, I found that I can buy hearing aids for $7-25 or so apiece on AliExpress, such as this model [aliexpress.com]. Is US Customs stopping these things at the border or something? (I doubt it since it these dumb regulations seem to be state-by-state only.)
(Score: 2) by wisnoskij on Thursday April 13 2017, @06:45PM
Possibly they are lumped with prescription medication?
(Score: 2) by sjames on Thursday April 13 2017, @07:47PM (7 children)
Try and buy one over the counter at your local drug store. Shouldn't they be next to the reading glasses?
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday April 13 2017, @07:51PM (6 children)
Well that just proves why brick-and-mortar retailing is dying, and obsolete.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 13 2017, @07:57PM (1 child)
lolwut?
It proves that the US is a country of laws.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Friday April 14 2017, @02:22AM
Laws intended to give lawmakers more power and corporations to rape the population. The laws are just the means..
(Score: 2) by sjames on Thursday April 13 2017, @09:51PM (3 children)
More like they're being hampered by an unnecessary law.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday April 13 2017, @10:00PM (2 children)
Both true. But that shows why B&M retailing is obsolete: internet sales are not so easily hampered by idiotic and unnecessary state laws, since stuff is just shipped to you. State governments don't have the power to inspect or block USPS mail or other shipped packages. Of course, the same isn't true for Federal laws, but you can't have everything.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 13 2017, @11:09PM (1 child)
You are delusional.
Illegally importing products is of little interest to the vast majority of consumers.
Using that case as a basis for drawing any general conclusions is innumerate.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Friday April 14 2017, @02:20AM
A great deal of consumers perhaps will learn by negative feedback loop?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 13 2017, @06:46PM (12 children)
Can you buy random valued eyeglasses without a prescription?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Taibhsear on Thursday April 13 2017, @07:01PM (4 children)
Yes but all the places online I bought from required a copy of your prescription from a doctor over a certain magnification strength. (The eye docs tend to be jerks about getting copies of your eye prescription specifically for this reason.) $15-50 glasses vs $300+ from the doctor. (Zenni Optical is the one I used most but there's a bunch of them online.)
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Thursday April 13 2017, @07:12PM (2 children)
Does that have to be a local doctor? or does a 3rd world yes-yes work too? Could they be ordered to say Canada without a prescription?
Seems like a law that will not hold much longer.
(Score: 2) by Taibhsear on Thursday April 13 2017, @07:16PM
I don't recall. I'm sure the stipulations are listed on the sites.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 13 2017, @08:01PM
Reportedly this site does not require a prescription for contacts.
They need the specs from the prescription, but you don't have to prove you've got a prescription.
I have not ordered from them myself, its just hearsay from a usually reliable source.
http://www.1-save-on-lens.com/index.html [1-save-on-lens.com]
(Score: 2) by driverless on Friday April 14 2017, @09:02AM
Yes but all the places online I bought from required a copy of your prescription from a doctor over a certain magnification strength. (The eye docs tend to be jerks about getting copies of your eye prescription specifically for this reason.)
This must vary from country to country, when I got mine (non-US country) I was ready with a long story about how I travelled overseas and might need to get them replaced while travelling and needed the details written down, but the optician never even asked, he just scribbled it all down and told me I could buy them online, or whatever. He'd already been paid, and didn't care where I bought the glasses.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 13 2017, @07:03PM (4 children)
yes. please note I don't wear glasses myself, but my mother bought at least two pairs of "mass produced" glasses directly from a shop without anyone examining her (she did know in advance what she needed though).
when I lived in the US I saw them all the time at Walmart and similar; i think they're also available throughout Europe.
as far as I know they're reasonable, the only problem is that they're only available for simple eye problems (pure far sightedness or pure close sightedness).
(Score: 2) by sjames on Thursday April 13 2017, @07:53PM (1 child)
That's the thing. They get around restrictions by claiming to be magnifiers for reading. It's much harder to get a reasonable deal on a specific corrective prescription. They price them like some guy in back is hand grinding the glass.
(Score: 2) by NewNic on Thursday April 13 2017, @08:32PM
Zenni Optical is your friend. They offer really good deals on prescription glasses.
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 13 2017, @07:55PM
Glasses for farsightedness are sold in USA, where they are called reading glasses.
(Score: 2) by shortscreen on Friday April 14 2017, @04:11AM
I bought two pair of glasses online from a Chinese seller. They had a range of diopters available from -3 to 3 in steps of .5
If you have an autofocus camera with optical viewfinder with dioptric adjustment you could use that to guestimate your requirement. And heck, when a pair of glasses is $10, it's not unreasonable to buy two different sets and then splice them together to accomodate different correction factors for each eye.
(Score: 2) by nobu_the_bard on Friday April 14 2017, @02:44PM
Yes, low powered eyeglasses are priced in the $5-$50 range in the USA. They are sold as "reading glasses" and are commonly available in drug stores and some big box stores like Wal-Mart and Sam's Club (where I've even seen them sold as 3-packs).
(Score: 2) by tibman on Friday April 14 2017, @05:33PM
Not sure about glasses but contacts are supposed to require a valid prescription less than six months old. Sucks. I usually buy 12-18 months worth of contacts each time to edge around it.
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 13 2017, @07:26PM
...tone deaf.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday April 13 2017, @07:54PM (1 child)
Aren't hearing aids calibrated for the frequencies that are bad, and for volume, so as to not further damage the ear?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 13 2017, @08:04PM
Yes.
But with a smartphone (and the right software) you ought to be able to calibrate them yourself.
It plays test tones through each ear-piece and you record how well you hear each one.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 13 2017, @09:11PM (3 children)
Why does the title say "Massachusetts Lawmakers" when one lawmaker is from Massachusetts and the other is from Iowa? It makes it sound like this is being taken up by a state legislature rather than national.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 13 2017, @11:13PM
Thats not the only change from the original submission.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Friday April 14 2017, @09:09AM
Why does the title say "Massachusetts Lawmakers" when one lawmaker is from Massachusetts and the other is from Iowa?
The Iowa guy was actually a lawnmaker. Lots of grass in the great plains.
(Score: 1) by charon on Saturday April 15 2017, @05:58AM
(Score: 3, Insightful) by kaszz on Friday April 14 2017, @02:42AM (1 child)
Here are photos if the interior in a hearing aid:
Analog hearing aid teardown [dreamstime.com] close up [dreamstime.com]
Modern hearing aid teardown [flickr.com] close up [staticflickr.com]
Given these modern horrible small surface mount components. It should be a solvable problem to design even for a professional amateur?
The plastic shell can be made from a 3D-print. PMMA?
The interior needs a power supply with button cell zinc–air batteries. These provide circa 1.35 - 1.45 volts. So perhaps a SMPS is needed.
The signal path ought to be something like 2x microphones for noise cancellation -- input amplifier -- A/D -- DSP -- D/A -- amplifier -- speaker (piezo?). The DSP has to run a filter algorithm such that specific frequency ranges can be adjusted for amplitude. Frequencies has to not differ in latency or phase. Circa 100 ms of latence for the whole path is usually the maximum that can be tolerated and should be no problem for modern DSPs. Inductive reception needs to be added for compatibility with existing hearing aid installations.
Any estimates on work, complexity and price?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday April 14 2017, @10:14AM
Sure. I'll sell it to you for $2,250.
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(Score: 2) by nobu_the_bard on Friday April 14 2017, @02:55PM
The market is bullshit - there's been a few attempts by various companies to break into it over the past few years but they typically get driven out of business by a handful of the big guys. I've been following it for years as I am severely hearing impaired.
Oh yeah, and hearing aids often aren't covered by health insurance in the US....
One thing - it is possible to make adjustments to mine with my smartphone. Lots of them have this ability these days; only the cheapest or most specialized ones don't (ones without bluetooth antenna). You can't program like this exclusively though. Mine just has an app to manually control its different modes (it has a few different programs- generic, phone, crowd, music, etc), and volume control, etc.
The programming for mine was difficult. It was not something I could have done unaided. I assisted two technicians in the programming. My hearing loss is a very rare type though caused by a genetic malfunction... I wouldn't benefit much from this proposal directly.
However, the sorts of hearing aids needed by the elderly are of fairly typical make and programming. Hearing loss with age is fairly predictable. You'd pre-program a handful of slight variants and let the user pick which one they like best; have them visit a website to play sounds for testing or an in-store kiosk or both perhaps. Cheaper generics with some good-enough programming should be possible to provide. It should be similar-ish to buying cheap reading glasses in the US and reading signs on the display to pick the best one for you.