Wife was quoted around 9k for replacement hearing aids that cost around 4k a few years ago. The dog ate one of the old ones. I'm beginning to smell a scam....how can they make smart phones and other miniature electronics for selling prices that are well below the hearing aid market and a product that people need but often can't afford.

I'm sorry… same thing happened to my dad, but apparently his was under a warranty period and he was able to get a no-cost replacement.

I've read that Costco offers hearing aids at a somewhat lower price, but I don't have any experience with any of them.

I agree with you, I do believe hearing aids are a bit of a monopoly (not quite a scam). My dad needed hearing aids and he always felt it was a scam as well, as they were always trying to upsell him.

At the end of the day not that many people need hearing aids compared with smart phones, so it doesn't quite benefit as much from an economy of scale. Plus, there's the component of custom fitting. And some modern hearing aids are super tiny. It actually does take a lot of engineering to manufacture electrical circuits that tiny that are capable of providing the appropriate audio processing and filtering to allow the right frequencies in, while minimizing the wrong ones. Many newer ones are also programmable, and the filtering in them can be adjusted based on the individual's audiogram.

You're also probably paying for the audiogram, the staff that does the molding, the testing, and the audiologist/ENT that supervises it all.

Over the counter hearing aids are much cheaper, but also much bigger, and you have to program them yourself (or they lack programming and are just up and down on volume).

Hopefully Kool chimes in, our resident ENT.

I am not aware of any massive spike in hearing aid prices recently. That being said, the cost of everything is up 20% since Brandon took office (sorry, but it's the case), and that includes the cost of the hearing aids themselves, the cost of rent, labor costs, etc.

Hearing aids are like cars - you can get a cheap used car or you can buy a Ferrari (according to my audiologists, the Phonak Audeo is now the Ferrari of the group). This has definitely always been the case, but much more so recently with the advent of OTC hearing aides. Manufacturers typically have three "lines" of hearing aids, mostly based on processors and somewhat based on interconnectivity with devices. Not everybody needs or wants the top of the line product.

Obviously I am biased, but I WILL say one thing that my audiologists have shown me to be true - having whatever aid you purchase tuned and fitted by someone who knows what they are doing can mean the difference between having something that enhances your life and your connections with people versus something that you keep in your drawer and only pull out when you're tired of your wife yelling at you. We see people come into the office all of the time with hearing aids "fitted" by an Oto Tech from Costco, etc., and the patients are amazed at how much better they can hear with a properly fitted and tuned aid.

Also, warranties are in general a good idea with hearing aids. Dogs love chewing on them, and old people love dropping and stepping on them.

I'm thankful to learn from you smart people here. Thank you for sharing with us!