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Why Are Digital Hearing Aids So Expensive?

Posted by timothy on from the what-the-market-will-hear dept.

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."

12 of 727 comments (clear)

  1. Why? by headkase · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's a guess but a solid one: competition.

    --
    Shh.
    1. Re:Why? by NonSenseAgency · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Check out a hunting supply catalog, the same device NOT sold as a medical item cost 90% less....

    2. Re:Why? by Eil · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I was going to go with: "because they're so freaking tiny." For some reason, submitter is assuming that its somehow easy to cram all of the necessary technology into a package the size of your Shift key and still have room for a battery. Add to it the fact that this isn't a mass-market product and also that it's technically a medical device so the price is easily tripled after the development and manufacturing costs are figured in.

  2. Size by quantumplacet · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

  3. Medical... by Gription · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It is a medical device which means that it is subject to insane levels of litigation. Mostly you are probably paying for insurance.

    1. Re:Medical... by ogminlo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It is a medical device which means that it is subject to insane levels of litigation. Mostly you are probably paying for insurance.

      It is a medical device which means that it is subject to insane markups. Mostly they are probably paid for by insurance, so there is little attention paid to cost by consumers.

      There, I fixed that for you.

    2. Re:Medical... by Romancer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I have a relative in the business. They license the popular brand name like a franchise and make obscene amounts of profit. As their single store in a strip mall with no real traffic pulls in enough for two houses and twice as many cars for the husband and wife.

      They have to manage stock of some units but the majority are ordered, the overhead is the employees and some testing equipment.

      The margin for profit is ridiculous.

      --


      ) Human Kind Vs Human Creation
      ) It'd be interesting to see how many humans would survive to serve us.
    3. Re:Medical... by HiThere · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Mostly they are probably paid for by insurance, so there is little attention paid to cost by consumers.

      In the case of hearing aids this isn't all that true. The people who most commonly need hearing aids are older, and likely to be retired. Many of then are NOT covered by insurance. But if you're powerful, or were sufficiently powerful, you ARE likely to have a health insurance that covers it. So there's no push to correct this among the people who have the power to cause it to be corrected.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    4. Re:Medical... by negRo_slim · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They may very well be making obscene amounts of profit but as a person with a general interest in DIY and electronics I would have to say trying to recreate the function of the device would be no problem for any hobbyist however the form factor of said device would be quite challenging to do without dedicated equipment.

      Otherwise I'm sure we would of all seen at least a few steam punk hearing aid mods by now.

      --
      On the Oregon Cost born and raised, On the beach is where I spent most of my days
    5. Re:Medical... by AigariusDebian · · Score: 5, Insightful

      With the info floating around during this whole US health care debate, I would agree to the above point:

      If you try to do anything medical or get any medical device in the USA you would be charged 10-50 times more than it actually costs. The prices are grossly inflated and then the big insurance companies negotiate them down by 90% or so. This is mostly in make sure that you don't go and get healthcare on your own. It also serves as a good way to keep some new insurance company from springing up - if you are not big enough, you can't negotiate such a discount, so you can't be profitable.

      The insurance companies are all in a cartel. It would be illegal for any other business, but health insurance companies have a special exception.

      There is no free market in health insurance in the USA and there has never been one, so there is no competition. Thus all the prices and profit margins are simply decided at the cartel meeting without any regard to real cost or social benefit.

      My advice - go to a country with a real healthcare somewhere in EU or Canada or Asia and get some hearing aids there. It will come out cheaper even with a plane ticket.

  4. $400 Laptop by ShakaUVM · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

  5. Re:Alternative by Nerdfest · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.