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Comment by dghughes | Hacker News Reader

There's a crazy amount of problems that are due to hearing loss. There's an increased risk of dementia. Even for balance from hearing audio cues when walking.

My mother has poor hearing and she refuses to get a hearing aid mainly due to cost. They are ~$4K per ear she doesn't have the money but to her an elderly person she imagines it as $40K/ear. I also fear dementia has already begun for her. For me I have tinnitus so this drug would also be welcome.

Another interesting drug is Vuity for nearsightedness. Between hearing and sight it will be amazing if such drugs work and were available before my mother or I or anyone dies of old age.

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Where do you live? There are many, MANY different kinds of hearings in many different price ranges. I have a top of the line OPN 1 and it was 3,000$. There are cheaper versions for 2k. Many manufacturers produce models under 2k. I'd advise to have her check again, perhaps with a different audiologist.

Heck, if she gets an earmold, I can give her my old Oticon Chili. I bet there are other avenues to procure a cheap one.

I'm Canada but the devices are not covered by the government but maybe by Mom's drug/health plan. Mom has insurance but I don't know what it covers and she probably doesn't either but I'm sure it must cover hearing aids. She refuses to even talk about them other than what my sister and I manage to pry out of her.

I also know my Mom and how to her $10 is like $100 so hearing aids even $1,000 to her would seem astronomical in price. She'd retort, "I'm fine without them".

It's been a decades long battle someday she may give in.

I'm getting good results with MDHearingaid.com Air[0] over the past eight years. They work in reasonable environments, like the home, but aren't enough in a noisy, crowded room. Right now, they are $300 a pair, which is reasonable. Buy your mom a present for mother's day!

I had a Bose Hearphone, but it broke. It worked quite well - I think about as well as the high priced aids. Sadly, Bose discontinued it (why??) and I can't replace it. With four mics, it was able to cancel sounds from behind you. You only really heard the person you were facing.

[0] https://www.mdhearingaid.com/en/product/mdhearingaid-hearing...

Edit: I notice their dual-microphone Volts are selling for $300 a pair, also. I haven't tried them - but dual mic is what you need in noisy environments. Might be a really good deal.

My hearing aids from Costco set me back only $1,700. I highly recommend them.

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