hearing aids prices
Jan 22nd 2006, 11:30 am
#31
Forum Regular
Joined: Nov 2005
Location: Barrie, Ontario
Posts: 127
Re: hearing aids prices
Originally Posted by ClareBC
This is one of those subjects where, for us, Canada has been the right place to move to.
My eldest child, who passed two hearing tests in England BTW, is severely deaf in one ear, but fortunately only mildly deaf in the other.
In England the hearing aids and batteries would be free. Mind you, as his hearing challenges were not picked up in Blightly that is a bit moot.
His one aid here cost $1300. It is by Oticon. With that I have 3 years insurance. It covers full replacement (up to 3 times I believe). However, I have extended medical and they picked up 70% of the cost.
I am thrilled to bits with the hearing clinic in our home city. My child has a speech therapist (who is also a qualified teacher) to to his school once a week. I get regular reports on his progress. The school has bought speakers for his class and a microlink for the gym (for assemblies).
Now, if anyone can pass on any tips to make him turn the darn thing on (he is at the "I don't need it anymore" stage)
.
Clare
My eldest child, who passed two hearing tests in England BTW, is severely deaf in one ear, but fortunately only mildly deaf in the other.
In England the hearing aids and batteries would be free. Mind you, as his hearing challenges were not picked up in Blightly that is a bit moot.
His one aid here cost $1300. It is by Oticon. With that I have 3 years insurance. It covers full replacement (up to 3 times I believe). However, I have extended medical and they picked up 70% of the cost.
I am thrilled to bits with the hearing clinic in our home city. My child has a speech therapist (who is also a qualified teacher) to to his school once a week. I get regular reports on his progress. The school has bought speakers for his class and a microlink for the gym (for assemblies).
Now, if anyone can pass on any tips to make him turn the darn thing on (he is at the "I don't need it anymore" stage)
.Clare
Jen
Jan 22nd 2006, 4:50 pm
#32
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 7,715
Re: hearing aids prices
Originally Posted by Andy_Jen
Hi HWP (have I mentioned that I now feel I'm communicating with the famous? I've been reading this group for years 
....anyways, back to the point)
There are a lot of programmes and wav files that will let you demonstrate a hearing loss... they're not perfect as no one can represent an individual's difficulties as they're unique, but it can give a very good idea. I found a downloadable programme from University College London (UCL) that I've known others to use. It's at: http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/resource/hearloss/
There are other sites with just wav files:
http://www.hearingcenteronline.com/sound.shtml
http://facstaff.uww.edu/bradleys/radio/library.html
http://www.phonak.com/consumer/heari...nglossdemo.htm
http://facstaff.uww.edu/bradleys/radio/hlsimulation/
http://www.utdallas.edu/~thib/rehabinfo/tohl.htm
There are others, but these are a good place to start...
Hope that helps,
Jen
....anyways, back to the point) There are a lot of programmes and wav files that will let you demonstrate a hearing loss... they're not perfect as no one can represent an individual's difficulties as they're unique, but it can give a very good idea. I found a downloadable programme from University College London (UCL) that I've known others to use. It's at: http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/resource/hearloss/
There are other sites with just wav files:
http://www.hearingcenteronline.com/sound.shtml
http://facstaff.uww.edu/bradleys/radio/library.html
http://www.phonak.com/consumer/heari...nglossdemo.htm
http://facstaff.uww.edu/bradleys/radio/hlsimulation/
http://www.utdallas.edu/~thib/rehabinfo/tohl.htm
There are others, but these are a good place to start...
Hope that helps,
Jen
It's very weird listening to the 'normal hearing' sound files as I know I'm missing something but I don't know what that is!
Jan 22nd 2006, 7:07 pm
#33
Forum Regular
Joined: Nov 2005
Location: Barrie, Ontario
Posts: 127
Re: hearing aids prices
Originally Posted by hot wasabi peas
Thanks a lot for that Jen! Excellent!
It's very weird listening to the 'normal hearing' sound files as I know I'm missing something but I don't know what that is!
It's very weird listening to the 'normal hearing' sound files as I know I'm missing something but I don't know what that is!
Jan 22nd 2006, 11:54 pm
#34
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2006
Location: Port Alberni, BC
Posts: 364
Re: hearing aids prices
Originally Posted by Andy_Jen
I really am going to go to bed after this 
I understand where you're coming from. And there are a number of people with not brilliant experiences of NHS hearing aids and audiology departments. But there have been a lot of improvements in the past few years. The NHS modernisation programme for hearing aids has been doing great things for what audiology services can provide, however there can still be quite a bit of variation in departments... some have embraced the changes to digital and some have found it more challenging. And some audiologists / departments have more experience fitting the digital aids than others. I work solely in the NHS and I have the same or very similar computer programme that allows me to show the fitting range of all the different hearing aids overlapped with the client's audiogram. The NHS does have the advanage of bulk buying to allow us to reduce the price to the department (therefore the taxpayer) of the individual hearing aids. For instance, I can get a top of the range, high-powered, third-generation digital BTE hearing aid for less than £200. Now, I'll leave you to make your own decisions regarding how much you think the NHS could actually get off the trade price of a hearing aid and compare it to the price you're being quoted. Saying that, I'll quickly note that I don't have the trade price for the Perseo at my fingertips, although I could find out if it would help you.
I know what you mean about hearing loss not being really understood... particularly the comparison to vision. The organ of hearing is wonderously complex and the processing required to 'hear' something is awesome (in the UK usage of the word). Once the hair cells are damaged and particularly when your hearing loss becomes severe or profound the quality of the sound you hear can vary incredibly. And no hearing aid, no matter how expensive or techinical can 'fix' it. All hearing aids, from basic to grande, have to work with the hearing system in its damaged state. When people compare hearing to vision it's not a good represntation as you pointed out. Other people can close their eyes and imagine what it would be like not to see.... people cannot alter their sensitivity of hearing at selected pitches and therefore the empathy is harder to generate.
I really wish you the best of luck and let's hope the medical requests / PRs come quickly for all of us
Jen
I understand where you're coming from. And there are a number of people with not brilliant experiences of NHS hearing aids and audiology departments. But there have been a lot of improvements in the past few years. The NHS modernisation programme for hearing aids has been doing great things for what audiology services can provide, however there can still be quite a bit of variation in departments... some have embraced the changes to digital and some have found it more challenging. And some audiologists / departments have more experience fitting the digital aids than others. I work solely in the NHS and I have the same or very similar computer programme that allows me to show the fitting range of all the different hearing aids overlapped with the client's audiogram. The NHS does have the advanage of bulk buying to allow us to reduce the price to the department (therefore the taxpayer) of the individual hearing aids. For instance, I can get a top of the range, high-powered, third-generation digital BTE hearing aid for less than £200. Now, I'll leave you to make your own decisions regarding how much you think the NHS could actually get off the trade price of a hearing aid and compare it to the price you're being quoted. Saying that, I'll quickly note that I don't have the trade price for the Perseo at my fingertips, although I could find out if it would help you.
I know what you mean about hearing loss not being really understood... particularly the comparison to vision. The organ of hearing is wonderously complex and the processing required to 'hear' something is awesome (in the UK usage of the word). Once the hair cells are damaged and particularly when your hearing loss becomes severe or profound the quality of the sound you hear can vary incredibly. And no hearing aid, no matter how expensive or techinical can 'fix' it. All hearing aids, from basic to grande, have to work with the hearing system in its damaged state. When people compare hearing to vision it's not a good represntation as you pointed out. Other people can close their eyes and imagine what it would be like not to see.... people cannot alter their sensitivity of hearing at selected pitches and therefore the empathy is harder to generate.
I really wish you the best of luck and let's hope the medical requests / PRs come quickly for all of us
Jen
I realise that many people have had terrible experiences of NHS audiology in the past, but things have really turned a corner. I worked in NHS audiology at various hospitals and saw them go through the monumental process of upgrading to digital technology and modern working practises.
Staff who already faced intolerable workloads and long waiting lists, then had to add the process of learning new techologies and equipment. Staff who were talented and caring audiologists were then expected to become IT specialists to setup and trouble-shoot complex computer networks.
Many of the audiology departments I worked in didn't even have enough rooms to accommodate the staff. Quite understandably, in some areas, waiting lists began to be counted in years and not months.
Despite, the difficulties, the majority of NHS hearing aid users have been upgraded to digital hearing aids. To achieve this, a typical patient would require 3-4 appointments, totalling perhaps 2 hours of staff time. (This doesn't include their regular maintenance thereafter). A large town would have several thousand NHS hearing aid clients for a single audiology department to upgrade, so hence waiting lists have grown and grown.
So in the end the UK has a modern NHS audiology service. When you compare it to Canada, it is a marvel. I now work in the private sector in BC. There is a very small amount of public health provision of 'free' hearing aids. They cover children and e.g. severely mentally disabled adults.
The rest of the adult population has one of 3 main ways of getting hearing aids: 1. Workers Compensation Board - if they can prove that a company was responsible for industrial noise damage (one pair of mid-range digital aids every 5 years). 2. Veterans Affairs Canada - for retired or active service-people (one pair of mid-range aids every 4 years). or 3. Buy 'em.
So there is nothing to compare to the NHS in Canada. Even provinces that are more generous in their hearing aid provision than BC, do not offer an NHS-type service where you can walk in with a faulty BTE and walk out with a new one.
It would be great to hear your views on this.
Sarah
Jan 24th 2006, 12:39 pm
#35
Forum Regular
Joined: Nov 2005
Location: Barrie, Ontario
Posts: 127
Re: hearing aids prices
Originally Posted by SarahBC
Well put Jen! I'm pleased to see that you described the NHS audiology modernisation process on the forum. I'll just add my thoughts in support of NHS audiology:
I realise that many people have had terrible experiences of NHS audiology in the past, but things have really turned a corner. I worked in NHS audiology at various hospitals and saw them go through the monumental process of upgrading to digital technology and modern working practises.
Staff who already faced intolerable workloads and long waiting lists, then had to add the process of learning new techologies and equipment. Staff who were talented and caring audiologists were then expected to become IT specialists to setup and trouble-shoot complex computer networks.
Many of the audiology departments I worked in didn't even have enough rooms to accommodate the staff. Quite understandably, in some areas, waiting lists began to be counted in years and not months.
<snip>
So there is nothing to compare to the NHS in Canada. Even provinces that are more generous in their hearing aid provision than BC, do not offer an NHS-type service where you can walk in with a faulty BTE and walk out with a new one.
It would be great to hear your views on this.
Sarah
I realise that many people have had terrible experiences of NHS audiology in the past, but things have really turned a corner. I worked in NHS audiology at various hospitals and saw them go through the monumental process of upgrading to digital technology and modern working practises.
Staff who already faced intolerable workloads and long waiting lists, then had to add the process of learning new techologies and equipment. Staff who were talented and caring audiologists were then expected to become IT specialists to setup and trouble-shoot complex computer networks.
Many of the audiology departments I worked in didn't even have enough rooms to accommodate the staff. Quite understandably, in some areas, waiting lists began to be counted in years and not months.
<snip>
So there is nothing to compare to the NHS in Canada. Even provinces that are more generous in their hearing aid provision than BC, do not offer an NHS-type service where you can walk in with a faulty BTE and walk out with a new one.
It would be great to hear your views on this.
Sarah
I agree wholeheartedly. The modernisation programme has been tough going but very much worth it. Personally it has provided a lot of job satisfaction and fed the hunger to keep up academically in the profession. Although I've seen others who worked long under the old system and had become demoralised where the whole quick move to IT-focused service provision has been an almost unsurmountable struggle. The majority of Audiolgists enjoy their work and go out of their way to provide the best service they can. It's just that now the NHS provides us more ways of doing this. But it was a steep learning curve. Audiology in the NHS is undergoing some major professional changes as well and the next 5-10 years should be very interesting. And why the NHS Agenda for Change and restructuring of our payscales isn't in the news I'll never understand.
As for working in Canada, I really am going to miss the lack of personal involvement in the financial aspect of providing amplification. Assuming I find a job that is
Jen
p.s. and I didn't even start on the wax lyrical about the newborn hearing screening programme for all of the UK and the modernisation of children's hearing services and the Action on ENT that has funded new facilities shared / used by audiology services. Say what one would like about the current government but working in the NHS have improved in leaps and bounds over the past 8 years...
