Why Are Hearing Aids Costly?
When you begin to ponder how much something costs, you will often find yourself asking, ‘why does it cost too much?’
As it turns out, the price of something is not always necessarily directed to their value, materials or size because if you look at the products sold in the market. Take bottled water and gasoline for example. We all know that a gallon of gasoline in some aspects is much important than a bottle of water, which we can get from any forms of water supply, but when you compare their prices, some bottled water are more expensive than gas.
This point of view also applies to hearing aids because, let’s face it, these devices do not come cheap. But sometimes, it is not the materials used or how the product was developed that is making it expensive, making it ridiculous to think they cost more than the raw materials actually used.
Factors that affect hearing aids prices
Technology – with the development in the hearing aid technology, changing from analog to digital, it is certainly a factor that most manufacturers invest in. These do not happen overnight thus, the cost of how long the team tried to study and develop the technology becomes part of the actual cost of the device.
Durability, Reality – in order for a hearing aid to work and last longer, it has to withstand several conditions and situations that require dealing with uncooperative environment, long use, and varying temperatures or weather conditions. The cost of this abuse does not come cheap thus manufacturers are also investing on the standard way of making these devices and letting them usable for a very long time.
Customization, Personal Fitting – audiologists need to sign a prescription before the device can be given out thus, the intricate details of what your hearing loss type is and how a hearing aid will deal with it may not be an easy task to fulfill. That is why, hearing aids are made to fit each person differently but at a price. The professional fees and the frequent times your specialist will have to see you will definitely add to the list of factors that increase the price of this device.
Marketing and Sales – as hearing aids are not something you can easily buy off the counter, except when you waive your right, then these products stay to be non-high volume products but with the number of competitors and manufacturers, they will definitely struggle to keep their business going. Add the cost of marketing, maintaining a warranty and free trial costs, then these products are really going to get their compensation from the losses in the actual price of the hearing aid when it is ready for selling.
Professional Fees – just like how customization and personal fitting works, you will be needing to pay upfront the cost of your specialist’s time and effort plus his knowledge.
So the next time you look at a hearing aid and see its price, make sure you consider all of these factors before making a judgment that it is too expensive. Remember, the use of a hearing aid can help treat your partial or full hearing loss and there is no price for living a more comfortable through the help of this device.
If you think you need a hearing aid, make sure that you get a proper hearing aid prescription. We are a specialist offering professional hearing test and hearing aid prescription to help.
Source:
HK Hearing & Speech Centre
Specialist of Hearing test & assessment,
and Hearing Aid Prescription