Hearing aids at Costco

[MillCreek]

I have had a moderate (right ear) and severe (left ear) sensineural hearing loss since I was born.  I wore hearing aids as a kid and then started again when I was 40, when I could carve out enough discretionary income to afford them.  Most healthcare insurance plans don't cover hearing aids, or provide a small benefit.  My last set of aids, purchased back in 2005, cost me $ 7000 out of pocket. 

It came time to replace them and I still don't have any insurance coverage.  So I went to Costco and bought a pair of ReSound Forza ITE hearing aids that cost me $ 2800 out of pocket.  The technology has improved over the past eight years and so far, I am pleased with them.  Equivalent hearing aids bought from an audiology practice would have cost me around $ 6-8,000, according to a couple audiologists I have spoken with.  Interestingly enough, when the US Government buys the equivalent hearing aids for the Veterans Administration, they pay around $ 425 per hearing aid.

So if you need hearing aids and spending your own money, Costco may be an option for you.

[TechMan]

Or look for a non-profit audiology group.  SWMBO is an audiologist.

[Lee]

I didn't realize they were so expensive or that insurance didn't cover them.
I'm probably destined for them at some point. I really struggle to hear conversation if there is competing noise.

[MillCreek]

Or look for a non-profit audiology group.  SWMBO is an audiologist.

I don't think I have ever seen a non-profit hearing aid center for which middle-class people are eligible. The Costco stores in my area are staffed by audiologists.  

[TechMan]

I don't think I have ever seen a non-profit hearing aid center for which middle-class people are eligible. The Costco stores in my area are staffed by audiologists. 

She works with all different classes of people.  She works at a United Way affiliated agency.

[wuluf]

Been wearing Costco hearing aids for 17 years...mine aren't the latest tech but they work and have lasted...

[charby]

I didn't realize they were so expensive or that insurance didn't cover them.
I'm probably destined for them at some point. I really struggle to hear conversation if there is competing noise.

I'm headed down the same road, sometimes is just maddening when you can't hear someone talking to you.

[Tallpine]

I'm headed down the same road, sometimes is just maddening when you can't hear someone talking to you.

And sometimes it is worse when you can hear them 

Now I know why old married couples yell at each other all the time 

[Hawkmoon]

I didn't realize they were so expensive or that insurance didn't cover them.
I'm probably destined for them at some point. I really struggle to hear conversation if there is competing noise.

So do I, and not because I have hearing loss. Certain restaurants hate seeing me come in, because I invariably ask that they turn down the noisemaker. Why can't people who operate these places understand that "background" music should be in the background? It's there to make the patrons' dining experience enjoyable, not excruciating. If the customers have to shout to be heard over the music, it is not "background" music. And if the kitchen workers want to hear the music, they can wear an iPod.