Category: Gray Panthers

Are Hearing Aids Getting Pricier?

Holly Hosford-Dunn 3 Comments Anchor Price / Audiology / Audiology Membership Organizations / Better Hearing Institute / Capital / Capital-biased / Classical Economics / Competitive Market / Consumer Price Index (CPI) / Costco / Demand / Economics / factors of production / Goods Market / Hearing Aid Manufacturers / Hearing Aid Patents / Hearing aids / Hearing healthcare / Hearing Industry Assn (HIA) / Internet hearing aid sales / Jay McSpaden PhD / Labor / market growth / MarkeTrak Surveys / Monopoly / Output/GNP / Perceptual Anchor Point / Price / Price Maker / Price Taker / Pricing / Productivity / Supply Side / Supply Side Shocks / Surplus / Technological Progress / Technology / transistor technology / US Patents

“The hearing aid industry uses every new thing, like digital or a new algorithm, to raise prices.”  CEO of a manufacturer of low-cost, app-smart hearing aids. Really?  Is the hearing aid industry conniving and villainous to consumers?  Do hearing aids really cost $6000/pair? If so, why has that rule of thumb stayed constant for a…

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Regulation of Hearing Aids, part 4

Holly Hosford-Dunn 2 Comments ANSI / Audiology / Class 1 Medical Device / Consumerism / Economics / FDA / Gray Panthers / Hearing healthcare / Medical Model Hearing Aid Fitting / Ralph Nader / Retired Professional Action Group / Scope of Practice / Task Force on Hearing Aids / zinc air batteries

The evolution of the hearing aid industry sketched out in parts 1-3 of this post series is that of a consumer product.  From hand to horn to telephone-like device, the hearing aid was developed and thought of by manufacturers and consumers alike as an appliance that boosted sound.  In that regard, hearing aids were a closer fit…

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