And now a word from some consumers

I always enjoy reading letters from readers. Often they contain points of view and insights that I find nowhere else. Most of these letters come from our core readership—hearing health-care providers. However, occasionally we receive letters to the editor from consumers of hearing care products and services. Since only people who are unusually interested in hearing loss and its solutions are likely to read our publication, their comments tend to be very thoughtful. Recently, two hearing aid wearers wrote suggesting two very different explanations for the distressingly small percentage of hearing-impaired persons who buy hearing aids. I think the points they make deserve attention. DISCOURAGING WORDS Sharon Lynn Campbell wrote, “One reason that many seniors won't purchase hearing aids is columns like this in government publications addressed to seniors.” The column she sent with her letter came from the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office and ran in publications directed to older consumers. Entitled “Consumer Alert!,” the article told of a “Mrs. Smith” who “spent $2500 for hearing aids, but found them to be useless.” It went on to warn, “If you are not careful, an aggressive salesman, using hard-sell tactics, could persuade you to buy the wrong hearing aid.” Absolutely nothing in the column even suggested that hearing aids help people hear better and live happier lives. As Ms. Campbell noted, “the actual, honest need to wear [hearing aids] was presented as a rip-off scam…I got the impression that buying hearing aids is only slightly less risky than buying a used car from the one-night sale at the old hardware store parking lot.” At best, most hearing-impaired people are very reluctant to get hearing aids. So, an article like this one gives them one more excuse to reject a product that they already view through a lens of stigma and denial. Ms. Campbell added, “If I were a dispenser or audiologist, I would hasten to educate the writers of this garbage on the way hearing aids help people hear better.” That's an excellent suggestion. Individual practitioners or, preferably, professional associations need to respond to the unbalanced and negative messages about hearing aids that are all too widely disseminated to seniors. Even better, our industry should become more pro-active in providing fair and accurate information to governmental and non-profit organizations that influence the population we seek to serve. MAKING HEARING AIDS AFFORDABLE Bonnie O'Leary, also a hearing aid wearer, offered her thoughts on why the great majority of hearing-impaired people do not get hearing aids. The real problem, she contended, is paying for them. She wrote, “People who lose their hearing know that they have a problem. But they also know that there is no way their insurance will cover the cost of hearing aids, so they do nothing about it.” She added her hope that one day insurance will cover hearing aids as it does many medical and other healthcare expenses. Third-party coverage of hearing aids is a complex topic, and the experience in places, e.g., Canada and several European countries, where hearing aids are a covered expense is mixed. When government or private insurers foot the bill, the risk arises that cost controls will detract from the quality of the products and services provided to consumers. On the other hand, it seems wrong that many people in this country who need hearing aids are unable to afford them. There has been growing pressure recently in some states to make hearing care a covered benefit, and I believe this is an issue that our industry will need to address before long. In the meantime, I think both manufacturers and dispensers need to focus more on affordability. While there are many reasons that hearing-impaired people do not get hearing aids, high price is among them, especially since the introduction of digital and other advanced hearing aids costing far more than the top of the line a decade ago. Price is an issue that poses a dilemma for our industry. On the one hand, even apart from any financial motivation, everyone wants consumers to wear instruments that will best meet their hearing needs. On the other hand, everyone loses when a patient is unable or unwilling to pay for the recommended fitting and decides not to get any help. In order to expand the market, our industry needs to ensure that consumers have a wide price range to choose from. So, while it is essential to continue developing and dispensing increasingly sophisticated solutions, we need to focus also on providing quality products that those of limited means can afford. The recent introduction of less expensive digital and programmable analog hearing aids is a step in the right direction. But, in my view, more needs to be done.

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