deaf primitives feel sticker shock

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=381x253

Now, this is a campfire long ago doused, a campfire older than the hills.

I don't think the deaf-and-hard-of-hearing forum's going to survive in the new DU, whenever it is the new DU comes out.  My fellow alum Skins can't use valuable bandwidth for something that collects not comments, but cobwebs.

franksolich was present at the creation of the deaf-and-hard-of-hearing forum, some time just before the Democrats re-took Congress in 2006.  I had high hopes for this forum, and watched it carefully as it sprouted and took root. 

Once it started thriving, I took campfires from there over to our old home.

But then, mysteriously, the hard-of-hearing primitives (there never was but one authentically deaf primitive, and he was chased away before this forum was formed) started shunning the place.  A cemetery had more animation than this little forum.

One wonders what was up with that, this withering-away.

It's had so few campfires in five and a half years that it doesn't even have an archive; all that's ever been in it is on one and three-quarters pages.

Anyway, I don't think the deaf-and-hard-of-hearing forum's going to make it into the new DU, and thought I should extract as much good material as possible from it, before it evaporates.

pscot  (1000+ posts)         Sun Feb-18-07 11:16 PM
Original message
 
Anyone else feeling stickershock as you contemplate the cost of a new hearing aid? I'm new to this. My hearing loss has only become an issue in the last year or so. But it seems to me that we don't really have a free market in hearing aids and accessories, and the prices reflect`that fact. In addition, there are gate-keepers who limit access to products, and control the free flow of information. Jargon abounds. Clear, useful information that might enable comparison shopping is hard to get. Regulations ostensibly designed to protect a vulnerable little old lady from predatory sales practices, seem coincidentally to line the pockets of "expert" middle men who may or may not add value to the process.

As noted above, I'm relatively new to this,so maybe I'm all wet. Please share your experiences and insights. I think this system is ripe for change.

DavidDvorkin  (1000+ posts)         Mon Feb-19-07 11:33 AM
Response to Original message
 
1. They're expensive, but the price does keep coming down

The price of the newest, top-of-the-line hearing aids is misleading. The ones below that were previously the high-priced, top-of-the-line models, and those models now cost less than they did before.

Which doesn't change the fact that $2-4,000 for a pair of hearing aids is a shocking amount of money. But it used to be considerably more than that for technology that's inferior to what's now available.

uppityperson  (1000+ posts)      Wed Feb-21-07 07:36 PM
Response to Original message
 
2. Talk to audiologists and aid providers.

I got my first set at cost from a audiologist. They were the yr befores "floor model", used to show people what they looked like, how to batteries, etc. They had never been used, and they cost $400 each rather than $1200. It never hurts to ask if they have something like this. Shop around. I went to a place that sold hearing aids, rather sleezy place, ended up at a independent small audiologist. Low pressure is much better than high pressure. Good luck.

Yeah, tightwad Dorothy, who makes Ebenezer Scrooge look like Santa Claus.

Dorothy's one of these primitives who's always going down to Mexico and flying over to France, and then claims poverty when begging for a $5 star from someone every February.

China_cat  (1000+ posts)       Fri Feb-23-07 04:22 PM
Response to Original message
 
3. Check your local Costco.

Ours does free hearing tests and has the latest in aids for about a third of the cost from other companies.

Rhiannon12866   (1000+ posts)        Tue Feb-27-07 11:19 AM
Response to Original message
 
4. I agree. The cost of hearing aids is exorbitant.

My mother has a prescription, but still hasn't gotten them, says they're too expensive. I think she's just looking for an excuse to continue avoiding her hearing issues, since she can afford them, but this is a legitimate concern for an awful lot of people, especially older people...

franksolich knows less than nothing about hearing aids.

Are the whines of the primitives true, or are the primitives just whining?

[cmypay]

franksolich knows less than nothing about hearing aids.

Are the whines of the primitives true, or are the primitives just whining?

They are quite expensive and, unfortunately, some insurance companies don't cover them. Like eyeglasses, they pay for the exam but not what is needed to fix it.  A friend of mine has shelled out $5000 for a (one!) hearing aid for her son. She was told it was so expensive because he is not "standard size." Of course, she also lives in Chicagoland...

[Skul]

I already have a hearing aid.
My wife just yells loader when I ignore her.

[longview]

I hear patients complain of a pair costing $3-5000.  And Medicare doesn't cover it. 

[Skul]

I hear patients complain of a pair costing $3-5000.  And Medicare doesn't cover it. 

Those sound like vaniety aids.
No one must know!!
There are functional units costing far less.
No, I'm not talking about the infomercial things, either.

[longview]

Those sound like vaniety aids.
No one must know!!
There are functional units costing far less.
No, I'm not talking about the infomercial things, either.

We've found the Pocket Talker type work better for many.  And they only run a little over $200 retail. 

I'm not sure what you mean by "vanity aids."  We don't have a lot of choices for audiologists or for hearing aid retailers.  In fact, people have to drive more than two hours, in good weather, to reach either.

[Skul]

We've found the Pocket Talker type work better for many.  And they only run a little over $200 retail. 

I'm not sure what you mean by "vanity aids."  We don't have a lot of choices for audiologists or for hearing aid retailers.  In fact, people have to drive more than two hours, in good weather, to reach either.

I constantly get mail ads from local dealers.
Naturally, I live near a rather large city.
Vanity aids=no one will ever know you're wearing one.
There are alternatives.
Maybe not the best in the world, but, functional.
Mine are fully tuneable behind the ear type.
Wouldn't trade them for no-seeums for anything.

[longview]

Vanity aids=no one will ever know you're wearing one.
There are alternatives.
Maybe not the best in the world, but, functional.
Mine are fully tuneable behind the ear type.
Wouldn't trade them for no-seeums for anything.

Yep.  That's what everybody gets.  The only time I see the kind with custom ear molds and behind the ear adjustments are in schools.  And, then the kids carry an FM receiver with them, too. 

[AprilRazz]

My grandfather got his from the VA.

[franksolich]

My grandfather got his from the VA.

I'll never forget the time an authentically-deaf primitive showed up on Skins's island.

It was about three years ago, and I wish I'd saved that campfire.

Actually, there is one authentically-deaf person on Skins's island, but per my policy of having my mole there being the utter opposite of franksolich, this one plays the role of someone with perfect hearing.

Anyway, so one day this guy showed up and lit a campfire.  I forget the topic, but it was political in nature.

This deaf primitive's comments made nadin look crystal-clear coherent.

Besides the really awkward sentence structures and some, uh, rather creative spelling, his tone was violently hostile (in the social sense, not the ideological sense) and antagonistic.

Right away, the primitives got indignant and jumped on him.  Tore him apart.  Ripped him to shreds.

I myself had immediately recognized it as being something written by a deaf person, and to this day, I suspect the now-gone primitive (he went away; he wasn't mausoleumed) in real life is actually a nice guy, one of the nicest guys one can hope to meet.

Near the end of the campfire, some other primitive got around to mentioning he was deaf, and that the deaf can't express themselves well in formal language (which is true).

You know, madam, the primitives pat themselves on the back for being so socially-conscious, so respectful of diversity, so sympathetic to the crippled--as compared with we barbarians and savages who have no feelings, no discernment, at all-- but this showed the primitives don't know shit about discernment, about telling the difference between things.

And it also showed something else.

If, instead of a deaf primitive showing up being all hostile and unfriendly and that, in deaf language, a hearing primitive showed up using jive or rap or hip-hop or ebonics or whatever, coming across as hostile, the primitives would've fallen all over themselves to cater to him, to love him to death.