Hearing Aide Update

Kevin Fix · Post by **Kevin Fix** » 22 Jun 2018 7:14 pm

Got hearing aides today and very satisfied. The brand is, Siemens and the make is, Signia. The model is, Pure 3 NX. They sure came along way. Their is a app on my smart phone for personal programming. Listening to music sounds very good. The big test will be the next time I play out. As of for now they sound very natural.

Steven Paris · Post by **Steven Paris** » 22 Jun 2018 9:02 pm

How much $$$ for a pair?

Kevin Fix · Post by **Kevin Fix** » 23 Jun 2018 9:48 am

$3000.00. My BCBS Advantage paid $1007.00. I had to pay $1993.00. With my pension I have BCBS and I also have my Medicare. Between the both of them that is all they would pay.

Fred Justice · Post by **Fred Justice** » 23 Jun 2018 10:15 am

Kevin, I have zero in my right ear, and 40% in my left ear.
I have an appointment with a Audiologist on 06/28/18
I'm on SS with United health Care as my sup.
I know the Sup. pays for the visit, but I don't have a clue as to what they would pay for the hearing aids, if any.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 23 Jun 2018 11:02 am

Most insurances don't pay much if at all for hearing aids.

I'm a Federal Government Employee and the high option Blue Cross will pay up to $2500 every three years for hearing aids. Considering the pricing on hearing aids, that is the basic models. I tried some new, basic model, Rexton hearing aids (I have old Rexton's) and they were crap for music and returned them. They had the fancy phone app to control them but that didn't make them any better. The provider said he could change the response curve of the new ones to match the old ones and he lost the sale, why buy new ones that work like the old ones when the old ones are still working.

If you qualify for V.A. that is the best way to go. Friends here that got hearing aids through V.A. all got "better grade" aids.

Kevin Fix · Post by **Kevin Fix** » 23 Jun 2018 11:20 am

Fred, When you go to the doc they can tell you exactly what your ins. will pay. I'm a retied State of Michigan employee and that is the best they can do.

Willis Vanderberg · Post by **Willis Vanderberg** » 1 Jul 2018 6:44 pm

Costco is selling Seimens for about half price. The catch is they don't accept insurance.

Kevin Fix · Post by **Kevin Fix** » 1 Jul 2018 7:05 pm

Anxious to see how they do when I play out next. We have been down for a month now. Will be back playing in two more weeks. Non stop until November.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 2 Jul 2018 2:14 am

I checked out the local Audibel hearing aid center. They "only" wanted $9000 for hearing aids. Talk about a rip off.

Jim Goins · Post by **Jim Goins** » 2 Jul 2018 3:35 am

Hey Kevin. Jim Goins here, let me know your new aids work, I think I need to get some new ones. By the way where and when is your next gig. Jim.

Barry Blackwood · Post by **Barry Blackwood** » 2 Jul 2018 7:11 am

Medicaid coverage for hearing aids varies from state to state, with some states excluding coverage entirely. And most hearing aid providers donâ€™t accept Medicaid or Medicare due to the complex paperwork involved as well as a low, and slow, reimbursement rate.

While some Medicare Advantage plans include coverage for hearing aids, traditional Medicare, the federal health insurance program for those age 65 or older, doesnâ€™t include any coverage whatsoever. A lot of private insurers follow Medicareâ€™s lead, so if Medicare doesnâ€™t cover it, they donâ€™t either.

And is there a potential for coverage expansion under the Affordable Care Actâ€™s 10 essential health benefits (EHB)? Unfortunately, probably not. Though the seventh EHB, â€œrehabilitative and habilitative and medical devices," is interpreted by hearing care advocates to include hearing aids, the interpretation varies from state to state. What sets the standard for interpretation, then? The stateâ€™s â€œbenchmark plan," which is the second-lowest priced plan available within a state health insurance exchange. And unfortunately, if the benchmark plan doesnâ€™t consider hearing aids to be essential medical devices, the other plans follow suit.

Al Evans · Post by **Al Evans** » 2 Jul 2018 2:38 pm

I hesitate to jump in here, because I don't use hearing aids. But my wife does. When we got her first set, we reasoned that hearing aids here were massively overpriced for the amount of electronics and engineering involved, and that people in other, poorer countries probably used them, too. So we checked out eBay, and sure enough....

What she's ended up using are Siemens "Touching" hearing aids, under a hundred bucks each. They seem to do as well as the (much more expensive) hearing aids some of our friends use.

--Al Evans

Ray Jenkins · Post by **Ray Jenkins** » 2 Jul 2018 3:33 pm

Got mine from theVA, service connected disability.No cost, was told they would have cost me around $6000.00 if I had to buy them myself.They sure made a difference in my hearing. They furnish batteries galore also.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 3 Jul 2018 2:14 am

What she's ended up using are Siemens "Touching" hearing aids, under a hundred bucks each. They seem to do as well as the (much more expensive) hearing aids some of our friends use.

Generic hearing aids don't do much for most as the hearing loss is not just volume level, but frequency loss too. Most that I know that wear or should wear hearing aids have high frequency loss along with general audio volume loss. This requires hearing aids that can compensate (be programmed) for the frequency loss.

A steel guitar player friend that owns a music store and a recording studio closed his recording studio (rather than get hearing aids) because of his high frequency hearing loss.