Unfortunately, most insurance companies don’t provide coverage for hearing devices. Some do provide partial coverage. You are advised to check with you health care provider to see if the policy does cover the price of hearing aids. Since hearing aids prices are at such astronomically rate, buying hearing aids at discount prices are getting important especially for family with tight financial budget.

The following paragraphs describe in details on how to get discount hearing aids prices.

Hearing Test

If you suspect that you have hearing loss, you should go for a hearing test to clear up the suspicion. A hearing test is able to figure out what degree of hearing loss you have, such as whether it’s mild, moderate or severe. Most clinics offer free hearing test. Once you have determined if you have hearing loss and the severity, the audiologist is able to recommend a hearing aid for you based on the hearing problem that is plaguing you.

Usually, the doctor will recommend several types of hearing aids based on your hearing requirement and your daily routine. You will need to provide your budget to the doctor. The doctor will also need to know about your occupation and where you will be using the hearing aids the most.

Buy Discount Hearing Aids

Once the type of hearing aid has been determined, you could start to shop around for the discount prices, either at local clinics or online stores. The advantage of local clinics is that you could try the hearing aids at the site and get a feel of what it’s like after wearing the device.

On the other hand, online stores offer more selections and steeper discount. You can find thousands of brands and models at online stores. During holiday season or end of the year when merchants are clearing stocks, you can usually find big discounts on some models that have been on the market for a few months. If you don’t mind whether you are buying the latest hearing aids models, you should be able to get good prices for some models that the merchants may offer up to 70% discount.

For example, website like hearingaidsnow.com has a tremendous selection of hearing aids as well as accessories and batteries at discount prices. The website also incorporate user reviews where you can get to know about the advantages and disadvantages of a particular model.

Other benefit of buying online is that you don’t have to pay sales tax if the store is located in a different state. You could save even more when sales tax is waived and the store offer free shipping.

Try Before You Buy

You should try the hearing aids before you buy. Most clinics and online stores offer a trial period of 30 to 45 days money back guarantee. You need to use the hearing aid for a couple of weeks before knowing if the device is right for you. Take note that some hearing aids which are offered at steep discount prices are usually not qualified for money back guarantee or a trial period.

These are the less obvious ways to finance the cost of hearing aids. Most people don’t actually have an idea or have never heard of it before. You may or may not have heard of it also.

Nevertheless, find out from the following paragraphs about alternative ways on how to pay for the expensive hearing aids prices.

Check with Health Insurance Companies

Even though hearing aids are considered medical devices that are meant to treat hearing loss or any other hearing issues, most health insurance companies including Medicare don’t have coverage for hearing devices. The reason is that hearing aids are considered by most health insurance companies as prosthetic devices which are optional in some cases.

Despite the fact that health insurance companies don’t reimburse the expenses of hearing aids devices, some health insurance companies do provide partial coverage on the money spent on hearing aids and the cost of diagnosis. In some cases, if the hearing loss or any other hearing issues are caused by industry accidents or car accidents, the insurance companies will cover the entire cost of treatment including the hearing aids prices.

With that being said, it’s highly recommended for you to check with your health insurance companies whether their insurance policies do provide coverage for hearing devices. You should check with the company every year because most companies amend their insurance policies from year to year. You may never know that someday the insurance company will change its policy to cover the cost of hearing aids.

There is no harm in making a phone call to the company to ask whether hearing aids are covered under the existing policy.

Use Health Savings Account (HSA)

If your health insurance company doesn’t cover hearing aids, you may use your Health Savings Account (HSA) that utilizes pre-tax income to pay for the hearing aids. Health Savings Account is a popular alternative to health insurance that is usually offered by your employer, i.e. the company where you work with. Employee has the option of whether to accept HSA or not. Employees who opt for a high deductible health insurance policy will usually accept HSA.

HSA is independent of the company you work with and can be carried over from one employer to another in case you resign from one company and accept a new employment with another company. The benefit of HSA is that you will save a portion of your pre-tax income into this account which is mainly used for medical purpose. As a result, the more money you put into this account, the less the tax you will be paying.

The condition of using the HSA account to purchase hearing aids is that there must be enough savings in this account prior to buying the hearing aids.

Apply for a Low Interest Medical Credit

If you have run out of all options to pay for the hearing aids prices and the option of taking a loan from the bank or using your credit card to purchase the hearing aids seems imminent, you could apply for a medical credit from companies such as Care Credit or Medi Credit to pay for your hearing aids.

The advantage of doing so is that the interest rate from these companies is a lot lower than the interest rate offered by bank or credit cards. Even though you are still applying for a loan or using a credit from a bank, the interest is much lower compared to a conventional loan or using the regular credit card for the purchase.

Other benefit of using a medical credit is that you could spread out the repayment period into 2 to 3 year period which translate to a low monthly installment you could highly afford.

The article will also talk about how and where to find hearing aids that meet your budget. By no means that we are going to find the cheapest hearing aids here. Cheap doesn’t necessary equal quality hearing aids. We are going to find the best hearing aids with the best prices that fit into our budget.

1. The first thing you need to do is to find out about the steps recommended by experts when buying hearing aids. The place to learn about these recommended guidelines when purchasing hearing aids is the American Academy of Audiology. Its website, www.audiology.org, has outlined all the recommended steps in the buying process and describes details about selecting the best hearing aids.

2. After that, you should go through one of the best buyer’s reports on hearing aids that can be downloaded for free from HearingPlanet.com. This buyer’s guide talks about the different types and models of hearing aids. Besides, the report also compares different models of hearing aids and outlines their pros and cons.

From this report, you can see the features of a particular brand of hearing aids and compare the prices offered by different merchants. With this report, you can definitely get the best price while still getting the best quality hearing aids.

3. In addition, you should also read the report, Sound Advice on Hearing Aids, provided by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), http://www.ftc.gov/. The free report contains vital information of recommended places to buy quality hearing aids. Moreover, it also has information on hearing aids buying guide.

The way to get the free report is first go to the FTC website, http://www.ftc.gov/. In the search field, type in “Sound Advice on Hearing Aids” and click on search. You will be able to see the report in the search results and it is in PDF format.

The FTC report also recommends you to buy from merchants that offer trial period on hearing aids. You should give the hearing aids at least a one month trial period before making your final purchase decision.

4. One of best place to buy hearing aids is AmericaHears.com. This online merchant is one of the few online stores that designs and manufactures its products. By doing that, the company is able to offer steep discount on hearing aids since it’s selling its products directly to buyers without going through any middleman.

Besides, the hearing aids offered by AmericaHears.com are of the highest quality and it offers a 100% money back warranty.

5. Other recommended site for getting the best prices on hearing aids is WholeSale.com. This online merchant carries all types of hearing aids and it’s selling them in wholesale prices which are comparatively cheaper. You can buy quality hearing aids from this company directly. All its products are backed by 100% money back warranty.

6. In short, the process of buying a hearing aid is a cumbersome process and sometimes it can be overwhelming for some people who don’t have the slightest idea of what to do. It will take some time to find the perfect hearing aids that are not only meeting your hearing needs but also your budget. All you have to do is just follow the guidelines in this page and you are all set.

Therefore, buying a hearing aid might be a overwhelming task for some people and the following paragraphs will help you to understand the costs and types of hearing aids.

In The Ear (ITE) Hearing Aids

In The Ear (ITE) hearing aids are commonly available and are inexpensive custom-made hearing aids. They work by fitting into the patient’s ear canal and are suitable for people with mild to severe hearing loss. ITE hearing aids can be customized to fit perfectly into a person ear canal since they are comparatively small. But they are still noticeable to other people.

The disadvantage of ITE hearing aids is they have high maintenance requirement. They need to be cleaned regularly since the ear wax or drainage from the ear can easily damage and degrade the performance of the device. ITE hearing aids cost relatively cheap and can be purchased for about $300 to $800.

Completely In The Canal (CIC) Hearing Aids

CIC hearing aids are the most expensive hearing aids since they are the smallest and tend to be cosmetically pleasing. Most CIC hearing aids are hardly visible to other people as they are small enough to be fitted entirely into the ear canal. CIC hearing aids are useful for people with mild to severe hearing loss.

In terms of sound quality, CIC hearing aids offer the best sound quality as the distortion and noise interference are the lowest. The downside to CIC hearing aids is they are susceptible to ear wax and drainage damage and need to be regularly cleaned.

Besides, it’s a hassle to change the battery of CIC hearing aids as the battery compartment is very small. Most people need to take the device back to the vendors when change battery.

A pair of CIC hearing aids can set you back by roughly $1,000 to $1,500.

Behind The Ear (BTE) Hearing Aids

BTE hearing aids are the most general type of hearing aids. They work by fitting behind the ear with a plastic tube. An ear mold that fits into the ear canal is connected through a wire to the hearing device.

BTE hearing aids are extremely useful for people with mild to profound hearing loss. They are especially useful for children since the ear mold can be changed regularly and is cheaply available. The hearing aid shell can also be customized to fit the size of the ears. As a result, BTE hearing aids are economically viable for most family.

A pair of BTE hearing aids cost roughly from $700 to $1500 for high end models and can be purchased directly from most online merchants.