Total Cost Involved- Hearing Care

Cool Group Of People, Woman And Man Holding Hand Near Ear Trying

Who doesn’t like to save a buck? In fact, who doesn’t like to save a LOT of bucks?

When it comes to saving money, that money is saved on purchasing the exact same 2 items, one costing less than the other.

Hearing healthcare is never the same between 2 providers, because no two providers are the same!

Here, we will show you things to consider when evaluating the TCI (total cost involved) with your hearing healthcare.

Oftentimes it’s worth the additional spend to receive the best care available. There are many things to consider when it comes to what kind of hearing healthcare you receive:

  1. What type of devices are you receiving?
  2. What is the warranty period for the devices AND the services?
    1. How much is the deductible for loss and damage?
    2. How are you notified about the end of warranty period?
    3. What additional services and expenses are included with warranty service
  3. What kinds of services are optional/additional and what kinds of services are essential/required?
  4. Could you please provide me a list of the services that are available, and their associated fees?
  5. How often should I expect to replace my hearing aids/devices
    ** This is a very loaded question and the answer will tell you VOLUMES about your provider or prospective provider. Hearing aids are sensitive, sophisticated, computer driven prescription medical devices that live in a warm, moist environment. Similar to your cell phone, earbuds, computers, tablets etc, they all have a sunset- meaning that they are either outdated by emerging technologies or the circuits fail from use and exposure.

    Of course there is a person out there using the original Apple Iphone from 2007, and I’m sure it makes phone calls! It is, however, severely restricted in performance, and use, compared to the current generation of cell phones.
    Think of hearing aids like cell phones- you can upgrade them often, if you like. Or you can hold onto them as long as they benefit you. You should expect a 5 year life from them, so as not to be disappointed by expecting them to be a once in a lifetime purchase. It is just unlikely to happen…

  6. What insurance companies is your provider contracted with?
    Alternatively: With which insurance companies are you participating providers?
  7. Will you verify my insurance benefits prior to my appointment? Should I verify it myself?

All of the answers to these questions should give you a pretty good jump off point to discuss what the total cost of hearing health care will be over a 5 year period.

From our experience here at Evolution hearing in the past 36 months, optimal hearing health care should cost around $3400 (this is an average) for a pair of devices, and around $492 each year for services, repair and diagnostic testing to keep your device prescription updated. So, you should expect to pay around $5900 over a 5 year period for excellent quality hearing health care, Total Cost Involved.
** Every patient is different, and some patients will need more services, and some fewer. Your individual costs may vary.

For perspective as of June 2023, JD Power reports the average cell phone consumer pays $144 a month for their bill.
That’s a 5 year TCI(total cost involved) of about $8640 compared to hearing health care of $5900.

What do you think about this? Does Hearing Healthcare compare favorably or poorly to smart phone billing, considering Total Cost Involved?