Save money on prescription hearing aids

You may be considering hearing aids but are worried about the cost. Consumer Reports helps guide you to some affordable solutions.

• Investigate your coverage. Veterans Affairs offers hearing aids for veterans. Some children, federal workers, and residents of Arkansas, New Hampshire and Rhode Island can get them covered by insurance. Some plans, including almost half of those from Medicare Advantage, offer at least partial coverage or discounts. If you have a health savings or flexible spending account, you can use it to pay for hearing aids and batteries with pretax dollars.

• Shop around. Costco offers no-cost screenings at some stores and hearing aids for about $500 to $1,500 each. Buying aids online can save you as much as $2,000 per pair, but you may also need to mail them back for adjustments or pay a local specialist to adjust them. It’s always wise to see a doctor or audiologist first to determine your hearing needs and rule out other medical concerns.

• Don’t buy more hearing aid than you need. Skipping extras you won’t use -- such as Bluetooth capability -- can slash your bill by hundreds of dollars.

• Ask for a price break. Almost half of the respondents to a recent Consumer Reports survey who tried to negotiate received a lower price.

• Check out groups that can

help.

Some government, state and independent organizations, such as Lions clubs, may help you pay for hearing aids or offer discounts.

(Go to asha.org and search for “funding.”)

Are OTC hearing helpers any good?

Personal sound amplification products, or PSAPs, cost a fraction of the price of the average hearing aid.

The more expensive ones are about $500 each; prescription aids generally start at about $1,650 each, including fees for the services of

an audiologist or hearing-aid specialist.

(Some less expensive prescription aids are available online and through retailers such as Costco.)

To find out whether these hearing-aid lookalikes can help people, Consumer Reports asked three of its employees who were diagnosed with mild to moderate hearing impairment to try four devices priced from $20 to $350.

They wore them for three to seven days at the office, at home, in restaurants and in Consumer Reports’ audio labs.

They were tested for how well the devices could help them pick out words in a noisy environment.

For an expert’s opinion, a hearing-aid researcher assessed each PSAP in such areas as amplification, battery and microphone function, and sound distortion.

Consumer Reports found that some PSAPs, if properly fit and adjusted, can help some people with mild to moderate hearing loss.

As with a hearing aid, the effectiveness of a PSAP can vary depending on the product.

So it’s best to have a professional hearing test first, and consider asking an audiologist or hearing-aid specialist for guidance in determining which device is right for you.