Hearing aids are available to purchase over the counter without a prescription following the official start of a 2017 federal law.
Giant superstores like Walmart will now be selling hearing aids over the counter for as low as $199 for adults suffering from mild to moderate hearing loss. This comes after decades of individuals in need of a hearing aid having to spend thousands just to get one, who previously would also have to obtain a hearing aid through an audiologist.
There are more than 37 million Americans who struggle with a loss of hearing. This comes after Americans called out the extreme costs of hearing aids, which led to Congress ordering the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to outline rules that would allow people to purchase hearing aids over the counter, CBS News reports. The hope was that the open market for hearing aids would end in costs being lowered for the devices. The higher costs typically come from the services provided by an audiologist when getting a hearing aid.
“From a conceptual point of view, this is huge that this is finally happening,” said Dr. Frank Lin, director of the Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, CBS News reports
