United Healthcare Revealed as Buyer of EPIC Hearing from Sonova
During an investor presentation at this year’s American Academy of Audiology (AAA) conference in Nashville, Sonova said that it had reached an agreement to sell it’s hearing benefits subsidiary company, Epic Hearing, to a “large US insurer”. However, the details of the agreement and name of the company acquiring EPIC were not revealed at that…
Read More
IntriCon Acquires Hearing Aid Supplier, PC Werth; Expands Footprint in UK
ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA – the IntriCon Corporation announced in a November 3rd press release that it has acquired the assets of PC Werth, Ltd, a leading supplier of hearing aids and hearing healthcare products in the United Kingdom (UK). As was previously reported by Hearing News Watch, IntriCon has had an exclusive agreement with PC…
Read More
ADA and IntriCon Create For-Profit LLC
LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY — IntriCon, a publicly traded (NASDAQ: IIN) hearing aid manufacturer based in suburban Minneapolis/St.Paul, announced a joint venture with the Academy of Doctors of Audiology (ADA) in a story first reported by the Hearing Review on September 14. The joint venture will operate under the name earVenture LLC and is operated by a…
Read More
hi HealthInnovations’ hearing test: Will it steer patients to or away from hearing professionals?
By David H. Kirkwood MINNETONKA, MN—Hearing care providers have long believed that a recommendation from a primary-care physician (PCP) is one of the most compelling factors in motivating people to get help for their hearing loss. That’s why for years the Hearing Industries Association (HIA) marketed to GPs, family practitioners, and internal medicine physicians, urging…
Read More
A rising IntriCon will provide hearing aids to the UK’s National Health Service
By David H. Kirkwood ARDEN HILLS, MN—Hearing care providers are familiar with the world’s “Big Six” hearing aid manufacturers, or at least their flagship brands. That’s only natural, as together Sonova, William Demant, GN Store Nord, Siemens, Starkey, and Widex account for over 90% of the devices sold in the U.S. and Western Europe. However,…
Read MoreHearing aid establishment and PSAP advocates clash over proposed FDA regulations
For an updated post on this subject, click here. By David H. Kirkwood ROCKVILLE, MD–A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposal to tighten existing restrictions on the marketing of personal sound amplification products (PSAPs) is arousing both a storm of criticism and strong support from various interested parties. Although the February 5 deadline for…
Read MoreAudiologists wage grassroots campaign against direct-to-consumer hearing aid sales
By David H. Kirkwood When hi HealthInnovations announced two years ago that it would start selling “high-tech, lower cost hearing devices” directly to consumers, hearing healthcare organizations immediately denounced the plan. They contended that in bypassing the hearing professional, hi’s distribution model would provide inferior hearing solutions and would also endanger patients whose hearing…
Read MoreAfter talking with United Healthcare, AAA and ADA say their concerns remain
As observed here last week, recent meetings between leaders of several professional hearing healthcare organizations and executives of United Healthcare (UHC) and its subsidiary hi HealthInnovations (UHC/HI) seem to have done little to resolve the issues that divide them. The key area of disagreement is the new hearing aid benefit being offered to consumers covered…
Read More