Hearing Economics

Real Price at retail isn’t rising in general and is actually falling for Premium products.  Something similar but even more dramatic is happening on the wholesale level. So concluded last week’s post and is the jumping off place today.   Average Wholesale Price Functions   Average wholesale Price of hearing aids increased faster than inflation1 for the last decade ($18/year,

This series now steps into the dark and murky realm of manufacturers’ wholesale pricing of product to see how the market has changed since 2013.  The caveats remain the same:   Big assumptions:  Categorical lines separating Economy, Premium, and everything in between are arbitrary to some extent, reflecting the varying family of products, product-specific technology levels, and price points adopted by

“Space is a scarce resource in a hearing aid.” That simple but powerful observation heralds the purpose of Oticon’s US patent #9338569 (Portable Electronic Device Comprising a Folded Substrate), shown in the title image. That purpose is to cram as much amplification technology as possible into the smallest space. Oticon’s next patented step is to use the folded substrate in a

“Peeling the Onion” is a monthly column by Harvey Abrams, PhD.   My last post, “Waiting for the Second Shoe (of three) to Drop” online pharmacy stendra for sale with best prices today in the USA , was written just before the most recent IoM report was published. Now that it has, we are waiting for the last of the Hearing Health

by Holly Hosford-Dunn, PhD & Amyn Amlani, PhD   Average Sale Price of hearing aids in the US retail market (ASP) grew at the rate of inflation from 2004-2011, peaked in price in 2012 and declined each year thereafter. At no time has ASP ever hit $6K/set, no matter how many times that anchor price gets bandied around. These are the

“Signal & Noise” is a bimonthly column by Brian Taylor, AuD. A few weeks ago the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) issued their report on the status of hearing health care for adults and their 12 recommendations for improving it. This report was billed as landmark, groundbreaking and a major milestone, and, if it is received by key stakeholders like

by Holly Hosford-Dunn, PhD and Amyn Amlani,PhD   The Pricing series revs up for a multi-year update today, just in time to get in on the PCAST and IOM action of recent days and await signs from the FDA.  In 2013, the announced intent was to “dive down and muck around with Price to test accepted assumptions.”  Time for more

Downstream Consequences of Aging is a bi-monthly series written by guest columnist Barbara Weinstein, PhD.  Today’s post is especially timely, on the heels of the IOM final report and anticipating the FDA review process that generated 160 stakeholder comments.1    The focus of the public workshop hosted by the FDA on April 21, entitled “Streamlining for Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)

“Peeling the Onion” is a monthly column by Harvey Abrams, PhD.   Before we get started, a disclaimer: This post will name names – hearing aid products, a health insurance company, and hearing health care benefit programs. I have no financial or non-financial interests in any of the products/companies mentioned except as a subscriber to the GEHA national health insurance

Since its inception, Hearing Economics has toiled persistently, if not rigorously, to infuse basic economic thinking and its lexicon into the audiology world. The goal is to broaden our view, giving us more opportunities to strengthen our grip on our profession. In that spirit, the five-post barriers series fits into the Econ 202 discourse which pops up occasionally.  Econ posts