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It is open enrollment time at work which has me thinking a lot about my hearing aids. I'm fortunate to have a full-time job that offers several different health insurance plans to choose from. and I am grateful to have a choice as many people may not.  Of the four insurance choices offered for the upcoming year as my plan is being phased out, all cover hearing screenings either at 100% or at 100% following a small deductible payment.  However, none cover hearing aids.  I have never had insurance that has covered my hearing aids. If I had known this prior to 15 years ago when hearing aids were first suggested, I would have started my Health Savings Account (HSA) much earlier.

I am on my third set of hearing aids and have paid for all of them out of pocket, costing a range between $2-5K for each pair. With technology always evolving, my rather unique needs, and being a bit of a gadget geek, there are both needs and benefits to upgrading. My latest hearing aids pair with my cell phone and I can Bluetooth stream phone calls, google map directions, music and more which is a huge improvement and worth the investment. I am fortunate to be employed in a good job and have learned to always be saving for my next pair of hearing aids because you never know when they might become unrepairable or my needs may change. It just always makes me wonder how many people that could benefit from hearing aids go without because of their prohibitive cost. And with the all the recent politics around health care, I only fear that even more may go without in the future. Yet another reason why accessibility and access remains so important.