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Why Are Digital Hearing Aids So Expensive?
sglines writes "Over the last couple of years I've been slowly getting deaf. Too much loud rock and roll I suppose. After flubbing a couple of job interviews because I couldn't understand my inquisitors, I had a hearing test which confirmed what I already knew: I'm deaf. So I tried on a set of behind-the-ear hearing aids. Wow, my keyboard makes clacks as I type and my wife doesn't mumble to herself. Then I asked how much: $3,700 for the pair. Hey, I'm unemployed. The cheapest digital hearing aids they had were $1,200 each. If you look at the specs they are not very impressive. A digital hearing aid has a low-power A-to-D converter. Output consists of D-to-A conversion with volume passing through an equalizer that inversely matches your hearing loss. Most hearing loss, mine included, is frequency dependent, so an equalizer does wonders. The 'cheap' hearing aids had only four channels while the high-end one had twelve. My 1970 amplifier had more than that. I suppose they have some kind of noise reduction circuitry, too, but that's pretty much it. So my question is this: when I can get a very good netbook computer for under $400 why do I need to pay $1,200 per ear for a hearing aid? Alternatives would be welcome."
It's a guess but a solid one: competition.
Shh.
It's not complicated, hearing aids need to be very small. Neither your 1970's amp nor your netbook will fit in your ear. Making something small and reliable enough for this kind of use is difficult and expensive.
It is a medical device which means that it is subject to insane levels of litigation. Mostly you are probably paying for insurance.
Well, if you have software on your $400 laptop that can do the digital to analog / analog to digital just like you say, the solution is clear: hold one laptop up to each ear.
That's still going to be $800, but that's a lil' cheaper than the $1200 pair you were looking at.
I too have to wear one and it's ungodly expensive. My argument is the fact I need them to have a normal life and work. So if people can get glasses for fairly low price and it's a item that people need then why can't insurance companies provide coverage too? Reason for that it's very specialized market and expensive.
Don't get one of those cheapie $49.95 hearing aids from the ads as they do not provide the proper specs to the type of hearing loss you have. In fact it'll make your hearing worse. It'll be like listening to iPod all day long.
See if they can offer a payment plan.
Good luck.
But this is why it's important to wear ear protection for such seemingly innocuous tasks such as mowing the lawn (or any loud task, really). So many kids back then and still these days listening to their personal music players via headphones where you can hear the music from across the street. It's just stupid and a few $ of protection today will save you $$$ in the long run.
I have relatives going deaf with age, watching TV with them is not fun. TV volumes set at a level wear I have to wear ear protection.
First, it's a medical device, not a commodity consumer item like a netbook, so its manufacturer must prove both its safety and effectiveness, with independent tests, before it can be licensed for sale by the FDA in the U.S., or the corresponding medical regulatory authority in other countries. That process is time consuming, and expensive. Those costs must be paid for, and are reflected in the price. Second, its technology requires extremely low power circuitry, and a much higher level of miniaturization, than a netbook. These factors too, naturally increase the cost of the device.
So you heard it everyone. Geekmux has issues a challenge!
First someone start a wiki to organize the project.
Someone make the hardware specs. Some A/D, D/A converters, some processing. Someone write the software. How small can an Arduino be made? Someone contact Bre Pettis about cheap fabbing of the housing body.
It doesn't have to be commercially viable. It just has to work and be easy enough to make that the local hackerspace can make them for their friends and loved ones. The threat of competition alone will drive down prices enormously. Don't worry about patents and trademarks. We aren't going to be selling these, we're going to give the plans out FREE in so many places any hacker can make one.
This is the new world Cory Doctorow has been writing about.
GO!
- For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat
Entitled attitude? This guy is trying to save money or find an alternative solution to a problem, as he can't afford the options he's seen so far. We should frikkin' elect him to public office.
Doing anything as low-power as a hearing aid needs is bloody complex and expensive. Your $400 netbook probably would't run more than a few seconds on the kind of power reserves that a hearing aid has. And your '70s amplifier, well, give me a break. Didn't you need half a power plant to power that thing? It wouldn't even turn on on a hearing aid battery.
These things contain mostly custom chips designed for a single purpose - that is delivering the computing power necessary for a hearing aid with the least power consumption possible. We're talking microwatts here. Designing such a thing costs a lot, and they're not selling in numbers as huge as netbook hardware, because, well, everyone wants a netbook, but most people sure as hell don't need or want a hearing aid if they still hear just fine.
Lowest taxes? Wtf? Between Federal, State, Local, and Sales tax, I pay upwards of 35-40% in taxes. And then when I don't have shit for savings when I get laid off because of all the taxes, I get barely enough in unemployment to float me for 3 months.
I see the glass as full with a FoS of 2.
I'd rather pay double for eyeglasses and hearing aids than go bankrupt because I fell ill.
Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)