Do any dopers with hearing aids have experience with personal induction loop devices? I am talking about this sort of thing available on amazon, though not necessarily that specific model.
My mother is very hard of hearing and on a recent trip to see a movie with her I was impressed with the induction loop device she was loaned by the cinema. She has also recently purchased a smartphone but mainly uses it for texting and its internet capabilities as it isn’t really loud enough for her. I thought one of these gadgets, assuming they work well, would be ideal as she could carry it in her purse. She is an elderly but very independent woman and it would give me peace of mind knowing she could communicate effectively if she had to.
I don’t have that specific item but I have something similar. The big problem is there are many different phones. Make sure that your Mom has a phone that will work with her hearing aids. Most hearing aids have an i-phone app. Android apps may work for certain phones and not at all for others. Windows phones I have no idea.
I have the Oticon Alta2 hearing aids, and they are The Bomb. Among other features, they come with a bluetooth device that you wear around your neck. It pairs with your smartphone-- in my case, a Blackberry Classic-- and the sound it crystal clear. I can also pair with my kindle, if I want to listen to an audiobook.
They are mega-pricey: the pair was $6,000. No insurance coverage. Does ANY plan cover hearing aids? I put them on my credit card and got a boatload of amazon rewards points.
You’re missing out. You don’t need induction devices for theaters. You need a “Closed Captioning Device”. (Almost) All theaters have these available for free these days. These things stick in to the cup holder and have an adjustable stalk with a 3-line text display head at the end. You adjust this head so that you can easily see it and all of the dialog comes up as text.
It’s WONDERFUL. I wouldn’t be able to enjoy public theaters these days without it.
I didn’t know about these–thanks. I often avoid movie theaters because I’m so used to watching TV with captioning at home. (I also avoid because the snacks are to friggin’ expensive!)
Yeah, we kinda lucked out. We retired to a small(er) tourist town in Arizona with a Harkins Theater. Senior admission (anytime): $7. Drink: $1.50 with a loyalty cup purchased for $4.95 once per year. Medium popcorn: free with a loyalty T-shirt purchased for $25 once per year. Total outing: $8.50 / person.
I have Phonak Audeo B hearing aids, the Phonak ComPilot, and an external microphone. You wear the ComPilot around your neck (so I guess this is what you are calling an induction loop). The external microphone, about the size of a USB drive, can clip on the lapel of the person you want to hear.
The mic works pretty well when I’m riding with my spouse in the car. It also works well if you’re on a guided group tour and the guide clips it to their clothes.
The mic doesn’t work well if you’re in a noisy environment like a busy restaurant, or if you want to hear more than one person. Putting the mic on the table in front of your table mates just amplifies all of the noise along with their voices.
So it works in some situations, but not very well in others.
Yes, some plans DO cover hearing aids, though I can’t say if they would cover the full cost of Oticons. Retirees from the State of CT (Tier 1, at least) have this coverage.
I know this because I received notification of the coverage starting just 30 days after I paid $4400 cash for mine.
Yeah something changed in my health insurance a few years ago. I made an appointment with my local audiologist that I had been going to for years, and was told they were no longer in my network. So I had to go to an audiologist about 40 miles away, and was also surprised to find out that insurance covered aboout 75% of the middle-tier set of hearing aids. I got a pair of Oticons like ThelmaLou (don’t remember the exact model) but had to pay extra for the streaming device. It was great while it lasted, but of course quit working about a month after the one year warranty expired, and I wasn’t about to pay another $300 for one.
My streaming device quit when I got in the swimming pool and forgot I was wearing it. :smack: I went right to the audiologist and bought another one for $100. If it had been $1,000 I would have bought a replacement. I can’t use my phone without it, due to my hearing being utter crap.