I’ll say it, durable medical equipment that is needed for a person to function as normally as possible and participate in society should be free at the point of service. That’s also true of all medically indicated care and basic preventative medical care.
I won’t argue with you. At the same time, even if we had “you need to pay some small co-payment to get hearing aids,” it would be better than the current situation of “you’d better have thousands of dollars that you’re willing to spend on these.”
I should also add that my last hearing aid (I went from 1 ear to 2) cost me $1,100 five years ago. These are expected to last 5 years and then I’ll likely need to get another set. So that’s $3,600 I need to spend every 5 years. It’s the cost of a decent cell phone every year just so I can hear and not be driven crazy by the ever present ringing of my tinnitus. That’s a lot of money that I need to spend just to function.
I’ll say it, durable medical equipment that is needed for a person to function as normally as possible and participate in society should be free at the point of service. That’s also true of all medically indicated care and basic preventative medical care.
I won’t argue with you. At the same time, even if we had “you need to pay some small co-payment to get hearing aids,” it would be better than the current situation of “you’d better have thousands of dollars that you’re willing to spend on these.”
I should also add that my last hearing aid (I went from 1 ear to 2) cost me $1,100 five years ago. These are expected to last 5 years and then I’ll likely need to get another set. So that’s $3,600 I need to spend every 5 years. It’s the cost of a decent cell phone every year just so I can hear and not be driven crazy by the ever present ringing of my tinnitus. That’s a lot of money that I need to spend just to function.