ICYMI: Senator Maggie Hassan OP-ED: Bill Would Make Hearing Aids Available Over the Counter

WASHINGTON – Senator Maggie Hassan penned an op-ed in the Eagle Tribune highlighting a bipartisan bill she helped introduce to make hearing aids for those with mild to moderate hearing loss available over the counter. Even when hearing aids are covered by insurance, older Granite Staters and Americans can still be stuck with bills totaling thousands of dollars. Allowing hearing aids to be sold over-the-counter is a common-sense step - supported on both sides of the aisle – to bring down costs and ensure that more Americans have access to hearing aids.  

Senator Hassan joined Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), and others in introducing the Over-The-Counter Hearing Aid Act of 2017.

Click here to read the full op-ed in the Eagle Tribune or see below:

Bill would make hearing aids available over the counter

By Senator Maggie Hassan

Older Americans deserve a high quality of life, with opportunities to stay active and engaged.

Unfortunately, age-related hearing loss can present obstacles to social interaction and challenges in daily life. When you experience hearing loss, everything from going to the movies to talking on the phone or chatting with loved ones can become a burden. And hearing loss is linked with negative health outcomes, including dementia.

For those who experience mild to moderate hearing loss, these negative impacts could be prevented with the assistance of hearing aids. Yet, for far too many Americans, the combination of stigma and high costs keep them from using the hearing aids they need.

Research has shown that nearly 30 million Americans experience age-related hearing loss, which includes nearly half of all adults in their seventies. But, largely due to high costs, only 14 percent of those who are living with hearing loss use assistive hearing technologies.

Medicare doesn’t cover hearing aids, and even when hearing aids are covered by private insurance as is required in New Hampshire, seniors can still be stuck with bills totaling thousands of dollars. One survey found that the average out-of-pocket cost for hearing aids nationwide is $2,400.

In an effort to bring down costs and ensure that more Americans have access to hearing aids, I have joined Senators Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts; Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa; Johnny Isakson, R-Georgia; and others in introducing the Over-The-Counter Hearing Aid Act of 2017.

Today, Americans have the option of buying non-prescription reading glasses over the counter – and hearing aids should be no different. This legislation would make hearing aids as accessible and available to those who experience mild to moderate hearing loss as reading glasses are to those who experience mild vision issues.

By making hearing aids available over the counter and relaxing unnecessary regulations, we can help increase competition in the market and drive innovation that will bring down the cost of hearing aids for consumers. This legislation also ensures safety for consumers – requiring the Food and Drug Administration to issue safety and labeling requirements for these new hearing aids.

The AARP, National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, Center for Medicare Advocacy, Gerontological Society of America, Hearing Loss Association of America, and Academy of Doctors of Audiology have all endorsed this common sense, bipartisan legislation because it will help those who experience hearing loss afford the help that they need. The legislation has also been endorsed by the Consumers Union, which highlighted that the bill would reinforce consumer protections and expand options for older Americans. 

While this legislation is an important step forward for older Americans, we know that there is far more we must do to support our seniors. In too many cases, seniors who live on a fixed income struggle with the high costs of the products that they depend on, and I will continue to look for ways to bring down costs for older Americans, including working to lower the costs of prescription drugs.

The Over-The-Counter Hearing Aid Act of 2017 is a bipartisan solution that will provide relief to millions of Americans, and this is the exactly the kind of common-sense bill that members of both parties in the House and Senate should be able to come together to pass. I look forward to working with Senators Warren, Grassley, Isakson and others to make it a reality.

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