My mother seems to need hearing aids, so I took her to Costco for an evaluation and trial of two. This Costco store sold three brands; Philips, Jabra GN and Rexton. She seemed to prefer the Rexton over the Philips and the cost would be roughly $1500.
But her Medicare Advantage plan is managed by United Healthcare, which will cover up to $4,000 every three years but only for approved providers, of which Costco does not appear to be one. So now we’re going to need to schedule an evaluation and test at Beltone. Though if the out-of-pocket cost is more that $1,500, we’ll need to return to Costco. And no idea why United Healthcare doesn’t include Costco as an option.
If cost is a primary consideration, maybe try the Airpod version first to see if it’s good enough? At $250, it’s cheaper than any prescription one, even if she has to buy a cheap iPad to set it up with. If her hearing loss is low to moderate, it might be good enough. If not, they’re easy to return.
I mean, there’s a reason their CEO was shot… they’re generally considered the greater of many evils.
She’s about to turn 88. She does have an iPhone (and my niece bought her an Apple Watch) but she is not very sophisticated about technology, so I suspect she may have trouble. Really, cost isn’t that much of an issue; she can afford the Costco hearing aids, even out of pocket but obviously the insured option would be better. (Coincidentally, last year, she switched to a Costco Executive Membership and has a Citi Costco credit card, so some of the cost would come back at year end.)
Mostly I’m surprised that the insurer doesn’t include Costco as an option.
I wonder if any insurer does. The insurance industry seems to support the high-end hearing-aid industry providers like Beltone, while Costco is what I think of as a low-cost outlier. I don’t know the ins and outs of it, but I’m sure the bottom line is at the bottom of it.
From what I do know of Medicare coverage, I believe hearing aids are only covered by Type C (all in one “Medicare Advantage”) plans. If that is the case, then the insurers are contracted with specific suppliers, like an HMO would be. I expect that those suppliers are deeply in bed with the insurers who accept them, with perfectly legal arrangements that amount to kickbacks. And that’s why those hearing aids are so much more expensive.
I really doubt that there will be any co-pay at all. I’m on a (State retiree) Medicare Advantage plan that also covers a new pair of hearing aids every 3 years. With my plan, which is a little above average, they cover the entire cost of any model. But $4000 is more than adequate to get very good hearing aids from any provider.
And, honestly, I wasn’t crazy about the Philips or Rexton hearing aids. I also wasn’t happy with the Beltones or Starkeys (Audibels) that I wore. Phonaks have been my aid of choice for several years and you can get a very nice set for $4000 or less.
Hearing aids are like cars. There are SO many variables (comfort, feature set, sound processing, directionality, ease of care, personality and skills of the provider, etc.) that I can’t say there’s any one “best” brand or model. I’m not at all trying to dig on Costco or any other provider. But I’ve purchased/worn quite a few types in the last 9 years and I came back to Phonak as MY best choice.