Law proposed to give hard-of-hearing an OTC option
If you need reading glasses, you’ve got two options. Go to an optometrist and have a vision check, pick out a frame and order a pair from them… or pick up some readers in practically any drug or big-box store.
The cost difference can easily run into the hundreds.
But very much like those subtle changes in your vision that eventually have you holding dinner menus at arm’s length to read, as we get older the same thing is happening to our hearing — only it’s a lot harder to detect!
Because with age-related hearing loss, you may not actually be understanding everything you think you’re hearing just fine.
Trying out a hearing aid, however, isn’t as simple as buying a pair of those inexpensive readers. In fact, there’s really only one thing you can do. And that’s to go to an audiologist, have your hearing tested and plunk down an average of $2,500 (or twice as much for both ears) — something Medicare shockingly doesn’t routinely cover.
Now, however, a solution to that dilemma could be in the works — the result of a rare cooperative effort between members of both political parties. And it may just make the lives of many seniors a lot more enjoyable and a lot less hazardous for a fraction of the current cost.
But this bill is one the hearing aid industry is fighting tooth and nail to stop in its tracks.
It’s called the “Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Act of 2017” — a bipartisan bill introduced last month in the Senate, with companion legislation in the House. (Let’s hear it for political cooperation for a change!)
What it would do is essentially give people with mild-to-moderate hearing impairment an option to purchase a relatively inexpensive non-prescription hearing aid without having to go through the rigmarole of a formal exam.
And that’s something that could be a lifesaver.
A study done by Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the National Institute of Aging two years ago found that having diminished hearing can make you three times more apt to take a fall. And with over half of those between the ages of 70 and 79 reportedly suffering from some degree of hearing loss, we’re talking about a lot of people falling!
Besides being sponsored by politicians from both sides of the aisle, the proposed legislation has racked up endorsements from the AARP, the Academy of Doctors of Audiology, the Gerontological Society of America, and the Hearing Loss Association of America.
But as you might expect, the manufacturers of hearing aids are less than thrilled by the idea. In fact, their lobbying organization, the Hearing Industries Association (HIA), noted in a press release last week that it did not condone a do-it-yourself approach to diagnosing hearing loss.
Hmm, why doesn’t that surprise me?
But honestly, do you really need an expert to tell you that you’re missing a lot of things people are saying… or how loud you’re turning up the TV?
The HIA Chairman, Brandon Sawalich, said that if hearing aids went OTC, they wouldn’t be “able to match the long-term health benefits” of getting a professional exam. He also warned that by buying the devices that way you’ll lose the expertise of a professional who will give you “screening, diagnostic testing, product solution, fittings, adjustments, counseling, maintenance and aftercare.”
Well, I certainly hope you’d get something for those thousands of dollars!
But if you don’t feel like making a big financial commitment to try out a hearing aid, maybe an inexpensive OTC one will work just fine, even if it isn’t just what the doctor ordered.
As I said, the OTC hearing aid act was just introduced, so we don’t know how long it will take to wind its way through the Senate and House.
In the meantime, however, even if your hearing is less than perfect now, there are some things you can do to prevent more damage.
One is to avoid certain drugs, called ototoxic medicines that are known to harm the cochlea in the inner ear. These include NSAIDS such as ibuprofen, naproxen and large-dose aspirin (8 to 12 a day) and antibiotics like gentamicin, streptomycin and neomycin (especially if you have existing hearing problems or kidney disease).
Of course, it goes without saying that listening to very loud music, especially with ear buds or headphones on, is another way to diminish your ability to hear.
And that could be why so many rock-concert fans of the 1960s need hearing aids today!
“Hearing-aid makers have differing takes on OTC sales option” Joe Carlson, March 23, 2017, Star Tribune, startribune.com
