Over-The-Counter (OTC) Hearing Aids are a Reality, starting This Week

In her weekly newsletter, our Congresswoman Anna Eshoo reminded us that hearing aids are now available over the counter without a prescription or exam. The ability to buy over-the-counter hearing aids is going to save hearing-loss patients an average of $3,000 per pair. Eshoo first voted for this policy in 2017; it took five years for this to become a reality, so we are grateful for the speed with which the FDA and our House of Representatives conduct business. HLAA provides an OTC Tips Sheet for patients, from this link.

Apple i14 Has Added Captioning

Apple’s new iPhone 14 has added a feature that is important for people with poor hearing. People with poor hearing need to have some way of reading what has been said. Captioning has been done by humans (who have good hearing and are trained to make motions that the poor hearing can understand) or electronics that can “hear” and display them on a screen. Historically, there was some specialized software that runs on phones and (sizable) companies that sell remote captioning services. We have purchased this new iPhone and found that it is impressive.