MIL has had her $5,000 set of hearing aids for eight years. Warranty was expired after five. One has worn out completely, and the company will not even try to repair at this point. She's 93, in hospice care, and doesn't have the funds to get a new set. She's getting by pretty well with just one of the pair. I've seen several advertised for anywhere from $65 to $300 and wonder if any of them are worth even that price?
When I looked for my DH I am pretty certain they had rechargeable ones.
He could not use them, the shape of his ears, we had no trouble sending them back for a full refund.
A HUGE amount of the cost of hearing aids is the audiologist fee. All hearing aids use similar technology, even the cheap ones, they just don't have as many bells and whistles.
I highly recommend trying the cheaper ones to help her quality of life. You can also order only 1 when you go this route.
We r lucky his insurance pays for his hearing aides. We get a breakdown of his bills and I have never seen a large amount being charged by the audiologist but then...that may because they are under contract. They must show the actual cost of the hearing aide because his insurance has a cap on what they will pay.
They will not repair hearing aides. The technology keeps changing. They will replace a mold and tubing, even do cleaning. If you got 5 yrs out of a pair you are lucky. Digitals do not last as long as the old Analog (which my husband still has and likes better). His inner ear ones shorted out within the 3 yrs he has to go to get a new one so he switched back to the over the ear.
All I can see is try the cheaper model. If its just volume she needs they may be enough. My husbands loss is caused by bone and nerve damage.
plus needed charging every 4 hours. Which she could never figure out or do. So I spent more money ( $200-300) and got some that only needed charging every 18 hours in an easy to charge in base. She could never ever do it herself, but it was easy enough for me to make sure they were charged up. She liked them very much. However the pins inside the aids made them tricky to insert into the charger to charge. I myself wear good aids covered mostly by insurance. I would never be able to use the amplifier type. But imagine if I had dementia and in my 90’s I would not know the difference. I bought moms amplifying aids on Amazon. There are many to choose from and you need to study all the reviews. Mainly look at the way they charge, and how long the charge lasts. Look for a charging base that you insert the aids into. Moms had a red light that signaled on the base that the aids needed charging and green when they charged up. Keep in mind you need to keep them clean of wax for her. And of course never let her wear them in shower or hairdresser. ( mom would forget).
mom is in hospice now, and I took her aids home. The home called me all upset looking for them!! They wanted her to wear them. I can’t imagine why. So I took them back to the home. She isn’t even conscious.
Isn't it a shame about the high cost of hearing aids. I don't know why the insurance companies won't cover these. My mother is on her second set. Yes, she paid $5,000 a pair with a $500 reimbursement from the health insurance company.
I also make sure my mother buys the insurance just in case. She calls them her jewels.
I didn't realize that by the time you pay them off, it's time for another pair. I thought you bought them once, maintained them and that's it. By the 5th year usually they start to break, malfunction the cost of a repair is pretty significant.
These chain pop up places, franchises, usually in a shopping plaza offer you free cookies that everyone handled and send you a birthday card. This is highway robbery for the elderly and patronizing.
I suggest an audiologist.
You can check out your local hospital, Veteran's benefits or do what I am going to do next time around if mother lasts that long--go to an audiologist in town. When I got my hearing aids and I told the audiologist what mother paid, she gasped. They are soaking the elderly.
The elderly need hearing aids, it affects their brain if they don't wear them. In addition whenever my mother goes out in the rescue I have this typed on top of the prescription list that is on the refrigerator and also a copy in my wallet.
"Patient wears hearing aids". When they arrive at the ER they drill the patient with questions, if mother is not wearing her hearing aids, the feedback creates another issue.
Try your hospital that provides hearing tests. You can probably get a pair for 1/2 the price. There is talk about dental and hearing aids becoming part of the Medicare Program in the U.S.
Hope this helps...
Here's what I've learned. As you might expect the really cheap under $100 HAs are really just amplifiers and you get what you pay for, but I think the hearing aids that are in the next tier are actually worth exploring. Many of them have much of the same technology such as noise reduction that was considered top of the line 20 or 30 years ago at a fraction of the cost of the high tech newer HAs, and while things like the ability to link them to blue tooth devices might be wonderful they aren't necessary if you don't have any blue tooth devices, know what I mean?
I'm going to include a couple of links I though contained good information
https://www.hearingtracker.com/hearing-aids/affordable-hearing-aids
https://www.theseniorlist.com/hearing-aids/best/cheap/
They cost $1500/pair and I got $500 back from insurance.
You DO have to be a Costco Member ($60).
Everybit as good as my previous $5000 ones--maybe better.
As you can tell, I HIGHLY recommend them.
Also she can receive a CaptionCall phone at no cost anywhere in the U.S. which I can help with.
When they needed to be replaced, we shopped around. Most of the options were still in the $5000 range. We found a much better set, for much less at Costco.
The new hearing aids were superior and came with an unbelievable no additional cost full replacement 2-year (even if lost!!!) warranty.
These Costco hearing aids were more comfortable and effective and accordingly were worn more than the prior, more expensive set.
Call her HMO group AND her medical insurance company because my mom's HMO group didn't really know that her insurance company through Medicare (Aetna) offered them free.
I bought $65 amplifiers and a leash to attach them to her blouse. They recharge like a cell phone so the MC takes them at night and returns them in the morning. She is able to hear the staff ask her if she wants more food etc. And sometimes she replies to me when I say something. Her Alz is so advanced she has no idea who I am etc. At 96 she has had covid 2 times and recovered (most recently May 2022), Is 6 months on hospice, 87 pounds and we pray every night for the Lord to take her. She has no quality of life but thanks to hospice is not in any pain, just a frail little wheel chair bound woman dependant on others for EVERYTHING. It is cruel and heartbreaking. Get the amplifiers.
Amazon has a pair of rechargeable amplifiers with a microphone for others to use. Prime and returnable for 129 or so. Worth looking at.
Amazon