I sympathize with you over the cost of hearing aids, especially for a student. HLAA has worked for years to try to get insurance for hearing aids with very limited success. It's as though the government and insurance companies view hearing aids as some kind of expensive gadget and not as the lifeline to the world that it is for HOH people. /quote]
Hearing aids certainly are, as you say, "the lifeline to the world".
A bit off topic here, but I feel compelled to write this.
I've worn hearing aids for 40 years. Had about six or seven, and three years ago I got one that is so much better than any of the others. And what's more it cost me less than half as much as a "name brand" from a hearing-aid dealer. I got it from a company that manufactures aids and sells directly to the consumer.
I know I can't name the company here, but I do want to tell anyone who needs an aid and has a problem with the very high cost, to investigate the companies that sell mail-order. Fortunately for me, there is one about an hour's drive from where I live, so I didn't have do it completely be mail, but I can see that it would work just fine. You have to get an audiogram from your local audiologist and send it to them. They send you a kit to take an ear impression, or you can have the audiologist do it. You send it all to them and you have your new aid in less than a week.
And here's the best part! The company I bought from has a 60-day "no questions asked" 100% refund policy if you are not happy for any reason. So there's no risk at all. (All the audiologists I've consulted charge $100 -$200 "fitting fee" if you return their aids, and you usual only have 30 days). This company has an excellent reputation and if you google their name, you will see that people are happy with their product. I know I am, very very pleased.
BTW, my aid, has a neat feature that I love. It has four different programs that you can change by simply passing a small stick magnet (I wear mine on a chain around my neck). My aid has four programs....one for normal situations, one that amplifies sound a little less (that I use around the house), one that amplifies quite a bit more (good for quiet situations like conversations at the dining-room table), and the fourth one has very little amplification that I find very useful in noisy places, like shopping centers. Loud noises, especially fed directly into the ear from hearing aids, or Walkmans, etc. can damage hearing, so this is important to me.
Another plus is that these aids can be adjusted on your personal computer, if you feel comfortable doing that. Otherwise they are programmed remotely from your computer by the company. For example, you say that certain sounds are too loud, and they will adjust the aid to compensate, without a trip to the audiologist's office.
And they will work with you until you are completely satisfied.
Again, I apologize for this off-topic post, but I sympathize so much with hearing-impaired people who for some reason or another, often financial, put off getting a hearing-aid. I want them to know that aids these days are wonderful things, and don't have to cost $3000 each.
What HAL does for the hearing handicapped
in Holland America Line
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