How much should you expect to pay for hearing aids? This is a great question and today,
I'm here to answer this question from my own perspective. If you're new to my channel,
my name is Emily. I was born with a bilateral sensorineural congenital which means genetic
hearing loss so bilateral means that it's in both ears. I wear hearing aids and boy
do I love them. I've worn them since I was four months old and I understand the financial burden
yet huge blessing that hearing aids can be so let's talk about hearing aid pricing.
If you haven't already please like this video and subscribe to my channel. I look forward to making
more excellent videos and if you're wondering how much hearing aids should cost, I've got a
lot of other great videos for you. I hope you stick around to the end of this video because if
you do I'm going to share three red flags that you should look for when you're looking to buy
hearing aids you want to avoid these red flags and knowing these red flags will help you buy the
right hearing aids from the right person to ensure you get the best service quality and hearing aids
in general all right so I want to preface this with the fact that I am not a professional I am
not a hearing aid dispenser I don't sell hearing aids I am also not an Audiologist or a doctor of
sound and the ear I am just a person who wears and loves her hearing aids so I feel like I have a
lot of experience that I can draw off of and also I've talked to a lot of people about how much they
pay for their hearing aids also the benefit is by watching this video you won't get a biased opinion
you'll get one that's very open and understanding that hearing aids are expensive. All right so the
first thing in understanding hearing aid pricing this is understanding what you are getting. It's
really hard to compare apples to apples when you are hearing aids shopping and what I mean by this
is there are lots of places to buy hearing aids you can buy them at Costco, you can buy
them from a hearing aid dispenser who just has a certificate to sell hearing aids, or you can buy
them from an Audiologist who also sells hearing aids the difference between those are costco
has connections to get hearing aids super cheap usually they are last year's models old technology
but they have relatively great and competitive pricing they sometimes hire Audiologists I highly
recommend that hearing aid dispensers they sell hearing aids they don't have any kind of medical
background or education they usually don't map hearing or adjust hearing aids to what you need
I do not recommend hearing any dispensers at all I recommend Audiologists Audiologists are
doctors they've gone to school they have studied the ear and sound and they understand what your
ear deems hearing aids are like shoes though lots of different shoes are comfy some are some
aren't some shoes work better for other people and hearing aids are just like that you need to have
your hearing aid fit to your loss hearing aid pricing is difficult because it's difficult to
know are you getting a hearing amplifier or a hearing aid a hearing amplifier just increases
all in any sound a hearing aid is specific it's able to filter sound and pull out the sounds that
you need for your hearing loss if you truly want a hearing aid you need to be getting one of what I
call the big six so in every kind of product there are just really well-known brands for example
adidas puma and nike are well known sports brand in the hearing aid world there are the big six of
hearing aid brands and these six are widex oticon siemens phonak resound and starkey because these
are the big six you will pay more for them but that is because they have proprietary technology
that makes these hearing aids absolutely amazing if you get the right kind of hearing aid and you
invest in it that hearing aid will work hard for you so that your brain doesn't have to
work as hard to filter and understand sound now hearing aids are not a one-size-fits-all solution
I put mine in yes I can hear more do I understand everything no that's just part of the struggle of
having a hearing loss if you buy a hearing aid from the big six brand you can expect to pay
anywhere from a thousand dollars to three thousand dollars per hearing aid so this
means two thousand to six thousand dollars for a pair I have heard of people that have paid
seven thousand eight thousand nine thousand ten thousand dollars for a pair of hearing aids and
in my personal opinion if you're paying over seven thousand dollars for a pair of hearing aids that's
a scam that is totally a scam run away or go to another person and see who can give it to you
cheaper hearing aids are wonderful and yes they cost a lot but there are a lot of people out there
that are trying to sell them for more than I don't want to say more than they're worth but more than
they should be sold for for example my uncle once went to a hearing aid dispenser and she told them
because I know you so well instead of giving you the ten thousand dollar price I'll give
you the friends and family discount and you can get the pair today for six thousand dollars wow
oh my goodness what a red flag it's so nice that she gave the discount but it's also saying that
they're charging other people lots of other money and how do you know that you're gonna get those
services that you deserve so watch out for those steep prices do not be afraid to say no you are in
charge of your hearing you get to invest in your hearing aids and you want to feel confident in
that investment so if you ever feel uncomfortable or you feel forced into a transaction or you feel
like the customer service is less than what you deserve do not be afraid to say no thank you
another thing to keep in mind when buying hearing aids are additional services that can be included
you might pay six thousand dollars for the hearing aids but there might be an additional charge of
a thousand dollars for hearing aid maintenance additional services that could be included in a
hearing aid purchase include hearing tests hearing aid cleanings tune-ups or just reprogramming the
hearing aid because ears change this is especially applicable with elderly people and children
and it depends on how long these service packages last some people include batteries in the purchase
for a certain amount of time some people include cleaning some people just sell the hearing
aids it's really important to understand what is included in this package you want to ask questions
like is there a warranty on this? Do I have any kind of damage coverage? Do I get [hearing] tests?
Do I get batteries? Do you clean them? How often can I come in for [free] tune-ups? These are
all important questions to think of and keep in mind when you're buying hearing aids.
Remember that hearing aids are like car shopping. You don't want to just show up and buy the car
right when you're there, you want to do your research, you want to take them for a test drive.
Many Audiologists have loaner hearing aids that you can borrow for 30 days with no obligation
to [buy] them so make sure you do your research. Feel comfortable with the hearing aids that you
are buying. One thing that I want to add, is that if you go to someone and you want to get a hearing
aid, they should always map or test your hearing if they don't that is a red flag because hearing
aids are such amazing pieces of technology they can listen to the sound and adjust accordingly
to meet the needs of your loss like I said earlier so you want to make sure that you're going to
someone that understands where your hearing is at so they can fit you with a hearing aid that
will meet the needs of your hearing. Alrigh,t so because I'm already talking about this, thanks for
sticking around to the end of this video. I want to share the three tips or red flags to be aware
of when you are shopping for your hearing aids number one if the person that you're going to is
not an Audiologist be aware. You can figure this out by simply calling them before you even arrive,
look up their number on Google, call them and ask them if they are a licensed Audiologist. If
they are not, understand that they probably do not have the education or the background
to map your hearing and give you a hearing aid that is as fit for your hearing loss. Number two
I mentioned this red flag if they do not perform any hearing or mapping tests this is definitely
a warning that you should consider getting your hearing aids elsewhere how can you properly fit
a hearing loss if you don't understand more fully what your hearing loss is I mentioned the big six
brands earlier there are different brands that are better for different kinds of losses. For example,
I have heard that starkey hearing aids are better for conductive losses this means that
there is something wrong with the inner ear I have a sensorineural loss and ReSound and Phonak
are good brands for that type of hearing loss now as I'm speaking about this you're probably
understanding why it's important to have a doctor or an Audiologist that's fitting you
with hearing aids. Terms become very complex very fast and your hearing is a sense it is something
that you do not want to live without. Helen Keller said, “If I had to choose to be completely deaf or
completely blind, I would choose to be completely blind because blindness separates me from things
and deafness separates me from people.” Aid your hearing loss and aid your hearing loss properly by
doing your research as you shop for hearing aids and the last red flag that you want to look for
is sales pitches. Sales pitches include “sale only available today”, “this special deal for you”,
“buy now and get this free thing”, you should never feel rushed to buy a hearing aid. If you
felt rushed or pressured, muster up the courage to say, “Thank you for your time, I will think about
this” so “thank you, but no thank you” take your time it's an investment and it's an investment in
your hearing and your relationships with others. There you have it, now you know what to expect
when you go to buy hearing aids if you have any questions please let me know in the comments below
now remember I just have hearing aids myself I am not a licensed Audiologist or a specialist
and hearing aid pricing varies greatly depending on where you live so take my advice lightly I
hope it helps though but definitely be aware of pricing issues and scams thank you so much please
like this video and subscribe to my channel. I look forward to making more excellent videos
and if you have any videos you want me to make, I want to hear about them in the comments below. I
look forward to seeing you next time and I hope you enjoy your hearing aid shopping experience!
Goodbye!