Hearing Aid Pricing

  According to Consumer Reports (July, 2009), patients ranked the following concerns above price:

1. Choose a good provider.

2. Understanding the product.

3. Take time to get used to the new hearing aids.

4. Get a thorough hearing evaluation.

5. Be a smart buyer.

6. Practice and Follow-up.

Never less, we still want to address the issue. Dr. Bish understands that the best and most successful patients are informed patients. We have the honor of receiving most of our new patients through a referral from their primary care physician. For that reason, you don't see large advertisements from us week in and week out in the Post & Courier.  We actually keep copies of the most misleading offers in our waiting room.  We constantly receive phone calls from non-patients that are price shopping because we don't advertise a lot. Hearing instruments range in price from 700.00 to 7000.00 each. To put your hearing options into perspective, a cochlear implant is approximately 35,000.00 and hearing aid implants are approximately 25,000.00.  Hearing aid implants are approximately an additional 6500.00 every 5 years to replace the batteries. There are also multiple accessories that you can use with your hearing aids that are not factored into the price. There are several points we want to caution you on before calling around to different practices.

•   It is virtually impossible for the patient to tell if they are getting the identical instrument from the outside. Most hearing instruments just have the manufacturer's name and serial number on the outside. You have to have a specification sheet to compare "apples to apples." More often than not, we have patients that are told they are getting a similar hearing aid for a better price. That generally means they are not getting equivalent technology.
  
• You should never buy hearing instruments based on price alone. The person on the other end of the phone knows nothing about your hearing loss or lifestyle. We have spent time with you and base our recommendations on lifestyle, hearing evaluation, and price. If everyone could benefit from the most basic instrument, that is all we would prescribe.
• Not all hearing instruments come with the same warranty or follow up care. If the instruments do not have the same warranty, it can cost $400.00 or more per set to add another year to your warranty. Don't forget the free battery program, 60 day trial, and follow up care that Palmetto Audiology and Speech Therapy provides at no charge.
• Take the time to call us back! If you find a lower price on a similar product, call us and we will go over the differences (if there are any). If another practice does have a lower price on the same product, we will gladly match it and extend our free battery program another year.