- In this video I'm talking about the cost of hearing aids
and why it's a bad excuse to avoid hearing treatment.
Coming up.
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Hi, guys, I'm Cliff Olson, Doctor of Audiology
and founder of Applied Hearing Solutions
in Anthem, Arizona.
And on this channel I cover a bunch of
hearing-related information to help make you
a better-informed consumer.
So if you're into that, consider hitting
the Subscribe button.
There's a perception out there that hearing aids
are just flat out unaffordable for the average consumer.
After all, why would only 33% of the individuals
with hearing loss choose to treat
their hearing loss here in the United States?
But is cost really the reason that people
are avoiding hearing treatment?
After all, research has shown that there are countries
out there that give free hearing aids
to their citizens who have hearing loss,
and their acceptance rates aren't much higher
than the United States.
Take the country of Norway for example.
Their country gives away hearing aids
to their citizens for free if they have hearing loss,
and they still only have a 42.5% acceptance rate,
the United Kingdom only has a 41.1% acceptance rate,
and Switzerland only has a 38.8% acceptance rate.
This is with no cost to their citizens,
and they still choose not to choose their hearing loss
even though cost is not a barrier at all.
In a recent study of 651 veterans with hearing loss,
only 28% of them elected to consider getting hearing aids
to treat their hearing loss.
And of that 28%, only 42% of them
actually decided to get hearing aids.
You see, cost, while it is the most popular excuse,
is not the main reason that people
are avoiding hearing treatment.
If this was the case, then these countries
who have extremely low adoption rates
that give out hearing aids for free,
and the VA that gives out hearing aids for free,
would actually see much higher adoption rates
than they currently have.
Worst case scenario is that only 10%
of individuals are actually avoiding
hearing treatment due to the cost.
However, if you are one of those 10% of individuals
who are avoiding hearing treatment due
to the cost of hearing aids,
you may wanna reconsider.
In 2007, they actually did a study to determine
what the average loss of wages were for individuals
with untreated hearing loss.
And what they found was is that individuals
with untreated hearing loss will make
up to $12,000 on average per year less
than individuals without hearing loss.
And if you treat your hearing loss,
you actually cut that number in half.
And this is in 2007 dollars.
So all it would take is one year
for you to actually make more money
than it would cost you to actually treat your hearing loss.
Basically what I'm trying to tell you is
is that if you avoid hearing treatment,
you're actually costing yourself more money by doing so.
However, if you do want hearing aids
and cost is still your issue,
then I have some good news for you.
There are actually ways that you can get hearing aids
and service for nearly nothing.
Number one is Medicaid.
If you're below a certain income level in your given state,
that state may have a program that gets you
actual hearing aids and a fitting of those hearing aids
by a licensed professional.
Number two is your local vocational rehabilitation center.
These centers exist in order to keep you employed.
So if you're having difficulty with hearing
and you can't afford hearing aids,
they can help you get hearing aids
and the right treatment so you can stay
at your job and keep you employed.
Number three is the Starkey Hear Now program.
The Starkey Hear Now program could actually
get you free hearing aids,
all you have to do is pay for an application fee.
It's $125 if you need one hearing aid,
it's $250 if you need two hearing aids.
And you also get a free fitting with this
from a licensed professional.
You just have to make sure that your income's
low enough so you qualify.
Number four is the Lions Club.
The Lions Club actually accepts donations
of hearing aids from individuals who no longer need them
or who have new sets of hearing aids
or who have passed away.
And then they take these donations
and they repurpose them to individuals
who have low incomes.
And so there's actually an application process
for the Lions Club as well.
But once you get approved, they will actually
get you hearing aids and help pay for your fitting
so you can actually make those hearing aids
be effective for you.
And number five is your local hearing aid clinic.
Hearing aid clinics get a bad rap
because everyone thinks that they only
sell expensive hearing aids.
They don't just sell expensive hearing aids.
There are a lot more clinics out there
that have value-based options,
so you just have to ask for them.
If you can't afford hearing aids,
you don't have to be embarrassed about it.
Just tell them what your budget is,
and I guarantee you they will find something
that will work inside your budget.
Listen, I know that the term expensive is relative.
What might be expensive for me
might not be expensive for you and vice versa.
But at the end of the day, I can tell you this:
there are people who do not want to afford hearing aids,
and then there's people who can't afford hearing aids.
Either way, hearing aids and service
can be obtained for close to nothing,
so there is absolutely no excuse for you
not to treat your hearing loss.
That's it for this video.
If you have any questions,
leave them in the comments section below.
If you liked the video, please share it.
If you wanna see other videos just like this one,
go ahead and hit that Subscribe button.
I'll see you next time.
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