Do you think hearing aids are reasonably priced? They actually cost many times their weight in gold.

I’ve mentioned in a previous post that you can buy an Apple iPad for a fraction of the cost of a set of hearing aids.  The hearing aids will amplify sound while the iPad has a computer, an accelerometer, a GPS system, video, audio, touch screen and so much more – all for a lot less than one single hearing aid. It’s the high cost of hearing aids that keep many hearing challenged people from wearing them and that’s a shame.

Www.embracehearing.com published an article a few days ago the addressed the ridiculously high cost of hearing aids. Quoting their article…

A modern, RIC BTE hearing aid weighs in at about 2 grams. It may wholesale for $500, and resale for $2,500. On a per-ounce basis, that’s a staggering $7,200 at wholesale, and $36,000 at resale. For comparison, gold is currently trading around $1,600 an ounce.

In all fairness, this approach penalizes manufacturers for making technological strides to reduce the weight of hearing aids, and increase comfort and satisfaction.

Nevertheless, the conclusion holds: on a per-ounce basis, hearing aids cost twenty times their weight in gold.   

It actually took us a while to identify any substance, man made or otherwise, with a higher price-to-weight ratio than modern hearing aids. We think contact lenses come close, but they were too light to register on our scale. But we did identify two clear winners. Plutonium is one. The other is a diamond.

Imagine – the wholesale cost may be $500 on a $2500 hearing aid.   Sure, you get a hearing exam but they don’t have to take molds of your ear anymore because almost all hearing aids are behind the ear.  Just program the aid, find the right fitting ear tip, cut the tube to the right length, and they earn a very nice profit and nice commissions.

Have you ever tried to buy a hearing aid that you can program on your own computer?  Try searching for one. Good luck. The fact is that the hearing aid industry is monopolized by companies that got legislation passed that protects their profits.

To be fair, though, it is those profits that keep the hearing aid companies developing better and better aids. But how fair is it that you have to spend upwards of $5,000 to $8,000 for a really good set of hearing aids when you can fix your vision with a pair of the best glasses that costs a couple of hundred dollars?  And the glasses probably fix the vision problem a lot better than the hearing aids will fix the hearing problem.

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