Wellness

[lh8990]

I purchased 2 hearing aids for my mom last December from Coscto. We paid about $1000 for the pair. She needed a prescription from her doctor to get them. The ones we purchased are rechargeable. Every night she puts them in the recharger and they are ready to wear the next morning. She gets them cleaned at Costco for free every few months.

They were a godsend for her. I would recommend them highly.

[violann]

I want to clarify the source of my opinion about hearing aids and purchasing them. 

First, it seems as though MOST of the comments here have been made by people who have done some research and been satisfied or better with COSTCO products and services.

My "baseline" for hearing enhancement equipment is an evaluation by an audiologist certified by the American Speech and Hearing Association, with the credential CCC AUD. If you were assessed by someone with this credential, @SXMGirl, you can be almost totally secure that you can "shop" for the best price and do well.

I worked for many years before I retired as a teacher of the deaf and hearing impaired, and at that time, people could represent themselves as hearing aid "experts" with limited training. I believe that licensing and training requirements for hearing aid sellers has improved a great deal since I retired. 

Unfortunately, people who need hearing enhancement have a tendency to regard their needs as less essential than vision enhancement, and this is not really so. Reading about the joy of hearing the shopping cart wheels is touching, because hearing loss can be a slow process, and as people adjust to not hearing their worlds can become smaller and smaller and smaller.

I need to update my knowledge base about this AND I plan to do just that. My DH may need some info soon about this, and ooops, I may myself. Thanks for starting a great thread @SXMGirl . Please stay in touch about your thoughts about your new aids. Maybe start a journal about what you experience as you adjust to them?

[eadu4]

I purchased hearing aids through my audiologist almost 2 years ago.  Mine are rechargable, hold a charge all day, and work as wireless ear buds.  So I can listen to music, my phone, the radio in private.  They work with my Iphone, so I can control the volume etc through it.  It also counts my steps and various other functions.  I also have a search option if I lose one.    I love them.  All follow up appointments, cleaning, fixing etc is covered.  I paid more than what they charge at Costco.  I don't have a Costco membership-cancelled mine when my daughter opened a BJs membership (I go with her)  Although I love mine, Costco sounds like a great deal and if anything happens to these I will definitely think about re-signing up for a Costco membeship!  

[FatCatinCT]

Costco's hearing aids increase volume but that's only a very small portion of hearing loss.  The tones, whether high or low that you're missing, you will not get those back with the cheaper brands.  I ended up going with Miracle Ear after much, much research.  Their hearing aides, I have 16 wave lengths that can be increased or lowered for perfect hearing.  Some sounds I wish to have never heard again, like my thighs rubbing together, lol. 

You get what you pay for!

[SXMGirl]

@violann  Thank you for your info.  An audiologist did my hearing test, and it was much more thorough than at the doctor's office.  In fact, when one of the test results was questionable, she repeated the test.  Both the doctor and Costco recommended the same brand.  I did research on the brand Phonak, and it is considered to be excellent but overpriced.  With Costco being 4K less expensive on that brand than the doctor's office, I think it would be foolish not to use my membership.

Thanks for the blog idea.  I just may do that.

[ALRATIBA]

Seriously consider your needs and lifestyle.  Do  you enjoy theater, movies, eat in restaurants, attend meetings, go to church, use cell phone, listen to audio books?

You get what you pay for.

Personally - when it comes to my well-being (eyeglasses, hearing aids, dental, etc.) I won't cut corners.  I get my hearing aids through the audiology group associated with my ENT's office.   They are custom fitted for my ear canal.

I don't have a clue about Costco devices - but I've been wearing hearing aids for more than 15 years.  Just got my fourth pair - average cost is about $6000 for custom, programmable devices.   Mine generally last me between 5-6 years.  Technology improves by leaps and bounds.

If you have an active life - you might want to consider programmable hearing aids.

Volume control

Microphone/Telecoil 

Comfort/restaurant setting

Blu-tooth - for phone and audio books

etc., etc.  

Think about it .....

[KonaKat]

I am on my second set of Costco hearing aids. Last week, I had my hearinng tested free in the city by an audiologist and the results were virtually the same as the Costco test. It is known that hearing tests by the same vendor can vary from day to day based upon a variety of issues. I am within my 3 years of Costco service, so yesterday I went to Costco where they spent an hour and a half cleaning them, downloading a new firm update, installing new wires that conduct the sound to the receiver, and a new app that they recommended over the one originally installed in my phone and checking the hearing again..

The re-branded Costco hearing aids I have saved me over $2,000 over the brand that the company lets Costo re-brand for its hearing aids. The check ups are included in the price. The Costco ones I have are programmable based upon specififc needs such as in crowds, volum control, direction you are hearing, music,  etc.

Costco is definitely worth checking out as there is a period of use that you can return with a full refund if not satisfied. The ones I have now are excellent as were the first pair. I am not paying $4,000 to $5,000 for hearing aids when less expensive ones can be programmed to meet my needs. Costco also does a "Real hearing test" after you are fitted with the hearing aids to check that they are correcting appropriately the different frequencies you cannot hear or have difficulties hearing.

[shoesnbags]

@KonaKat 

Do you happen to know what brand it is that Costco is re-branding? 

[KonaKat]

The Costco re-branded hearing aids are made by Rexton, a Siemens company.

Rexton hearing aids

Featured snippet from the web

Rexton is a popular hearing aid option for customers with mild to profound hearing loss. The company uses enhanced auditory and speech features to offer discreet, rechargeable and Bluetooth-enabled hearing instruments that help individuals live independently and hear better.

While GN ReSound and Phonak are familiar names, both inside and outside of Costco, Rexton is not as familiar. A sister company to Signia ,(formerly Siemens), Rexton aids can be found at Costco stores in the US 

The $1500 a pair Costco co-branded hearing aids are their lowest priced. They also offer other brands. The first paid of co-branded Costo hearing aids I had were ReSound at $1800. It had a remote to change features on the hearinng aid.

The current ones at $1500 use a phone app and bluetooth. The quality of hearing is very good and the Real Hearing Test shows that it is making the appropriate adjustments so I hear the various frequencies. Some companies do not do a Real Hearing Test to see if the hearing aids actually are working as they should at the various frequencies.

From Consumer Reports:

But the survey reveals some differences from brand to brand. Costco’s in-house brand of hearing aids, Kirkland, landed at the top of the ratings, with a reader score for Overall Satisfaction of 76 (out of 100), followed closely by the Signia brand, at 75. NuEar and Beltone ended up at the bottom of the ratings chart, with a score of 67.

Costco's Kirkland brand was the only brand to receive top marks from members for value, which we defined as satisfaction with a hearing aid’s performance vs. its cost. 

Rexton also received high marks for value, but the other brands got average to low scores.

[Q-Checker]

There is a great deal of excellent information on this forum and I think it would be helpful for you to review it.Yes, it s very desirable to be tested by someone with the credentials of CCC/A after their name. (See the post by Violann.) These credentials are held by some, but not most, of the people who test hearing at Coscto. A former co-worker who holds these credentials and also has a doctorate in Audiology (AuD degree) now works at Costo and has assured me that their hearing aids, sometimes rebranded, are of excellent quality. And, with some exceptions noted below,  most do NOT just increase volume. They are carefully matched and programmed to the profile of a person's audiogram. The people who test hearing at Costco do not work on commission and will be very honest in fitting their customers with the most effective hearing aids for their hearing profile and situational needs.  Like others, they provide follow-up care, including any needed re-adjustment, at no cost. The same is not true for some other venues, which are more profit-motivated. A "prescription" is never needed as a physician does not select and "prescribe" a hearing aid but, of course, provides "referrals" for testing and potential recommendations for hearing aids, as indicated by the results of a comprehensive battery of audiometric testing. This may occur subsequent to a hearing screening, a brief test that only indicates whether there is a need for a full battery of tests. There ARE cases of mild hearing loss where the "correction" may, indeed, be only to increase volume and an OTC hearing aid MAY be warranted, but for cases of moderate-severe hearing or profound loss, or hearing profiles of certain audiometric configurations. a more sophisticated hearing aid is needed. A competently administered hearing test will take things into account other than just "audibility." For example, the ability to discriminate among similar sounds and the ability to hear speech in noise will be addressed. I would not hesitate to buy an hearing aid at Costco when and if I need one. Caveat Empor !