The Food and Drug Administration is working to finalize a rule that would make it easier for many adults to get hearing aids, a policy change five years in the making that is sparking intense lobbying.
The change comes after a 2017 law required a regulation for selling over-the-counter hearing aids. Implementation was delayed in part because of the agency’s shift in 2020 to focus on the COVID-19 pandemic, but the FDA issued a proposed rule in October. Now, interest groups and the lawmakers who worked on the law are pushing for the FDA to finalize the policy as hearing loss policies garner more interest in Washington.
An estimated 48 million Americans have some level of hearing loss. The FDA has long required that patients get a prescription for a hearing aid, which can be expensive or time-consuming for many. The regulation would change that for people with mild to moderate loss, who constitute the majority of people experiencing hearing problems.
Meanwhile, House Democrats voted to expand Medicare to cover hearing benefits last year as part of a reconciliation package. But the $35 billion provision is likely on the chopping block as Senate Democrats weigh how to move forward on a scaled-back version of the social spending and climate bill after West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin III said the caucus should begin again with a clean slate.
Leaving out that provision could mean that people with the most severe hearing loss may not see major policy changes in their hearing care anytime soon.
