For someone like me who has hands-on experience with hearing aids, the transition is more complicated. While the FDA’s recent changes certainly help some, they pose a potential danger to consumers and highlight major gaps in care left for many who need them most. I’m here.
Notably, coverage of the new regulations is dotted with images of cute babies on hearing aids, but they only apply to hearing aids for adults with mild to moderate hearing loss. There is no doubt that the subset of the population that needs hearing aids will have access to them. I am happy to know that this decision will help those people.
But as a deaf person, I fear that the FDA and the elected officials who voted on relevant legislation over five years ago will see this as a box to tick off their to-do list and forget about it. doing. The rest of us who are not helped by this change. Those like me who need more powerful devices will still be forced to pay out-of-pocket.No child will benefit from the new category of AIDS.
Our society tends to help people with disabilities in surface-level ways, retrofitting narrow solutions while continuing to shy away from systemic movements that make things better for all. is a very common disorder.
1 in 8 Americans over the age of 12 some sense of loss. By the age of 75, the number will be
nearly half the populationHowever, according to a study by the American Speech and Hearing Association,
only 20% of people People with hearing loss who need treatment are actually getting treatment, and most people have been waiting for hearing aids for 10 years or more after diagnosis.
Barriers to obtaining hearing aids in the United States are many and varied.hearing aid
Not covered by Medicaremost private insurance, and state-specific Medicaid coverage
Indefinite. Without coverage, the single aid is
Costs up to $5,000 This is, of course, bills for multiple doctor visits to get referrals, tests, prescriptions, and follow-up care to fine-tune your hearing aids.
of
rural and low-income areas, audiologists or otolaryngology (ear, nose, throat) physicians are often limited, and patients must endure long drives and long waits, often unable to see a doctor. you can’t. Therefore, it is understandable that many people may feel unable or unwilling to receive treatment.
Some people likened Creating a class of over-the-counter hearing aids is buying reading glasses off the rack at the pharmacy, but the comparison is ultimately irrelevant. There is hearing loss, most of which require more nuance than simply making something louder. “Normal” human hearing requires the simultaneous functioning of the outer, middle, and inner ear, as well as the auditory nerve to convey that information to the brain, and the brain’s processing center itself. A doctor’s evaluation can help determine the cause of the hearing problem.
hearing aids
sensorineural hearing loss, death of cochlear hair cells in the inner ear. It is the leading cause of hearing loss, especially in older people, but it is not the only type, and only testing by an audiologist can distinguish it. without
may damage their cochlear cells by listening
with volume up over a long period of time.
Additionally, hearing aids are not a one-size-fits-all solution for people with sensorineural hearing loss. A person’s losses are rarely the same at all frequencies. For example, most older people
Hear low tones more often than high tonesWhen an audiologist wears hearing aids, the doctor programs the hearing aids at each frequency level to meet the patient’s specific needs. Many hearing aids have programs for use in different environments, such as when watching TV or in a noisy restaurant, to change the volume in a way that is tailored to your individual hearing level and reduce background noise. mitigate.
Proponents of FDA Change Say Increased competition among hearing aid manufacturers encourages innovation, including improved self-adjustment capabilities, but for the time being, new hearing aid users may experience pain from sounds that are too loud at certain frequencies, or may struggle with certain conditions. may continue to do so. A lot of background noise. This may reduce the desire to adopt the technology long-term, even as general access increases overall.
Finally, there is the issue of stigma. Wearing eyeglasses is generally understood to be part of the normative change in the human experience and appearance, and is sometimes even seen as trendy, but widespread disability and ageism Hearing aid users are often stigmatized. Even with increased use of hearing aids, meaningful understanding of hearing aid use requires active and conscious dismantling of these negative stereotypes. I think you have to.
The positives surrounding the changes in hearing aid guidelines offer a lot of hope for the future, but not much specific support for people who need hearing aids. For those whose hearing aids were previously too expensive, this change will be for the better. Time will tell as to all the optimism we invest in the free market when it comes to overall price reductions from innovation and competition. It feels like a band-aid for bullet wounds. Instead of equitable access to care for all, we see and expect to celebrate piecemeal donations from do-it-yourself measures to some. I’m here.
And I celebrate with those who can stop the bleeding with bandages. continue to advocate for equitable access to hearing technology.
