Hearing Economics

by Harvey Abrams, PhD.   “Peeling the Onion” is a monthly column by Harvey Abrams, PhD.   If your time to you Is worth savin’ Then you better start swimmin’ Or you’ll sink like a stone (Bob Dylan)   In a recent post  (in response to the PCAST report and pending FDA decision on creating a new classification of OTC hearing

Downstream Consequences of Aging is a bi-monthly series written by guest columnist Barbara Weinstein, PhD.  Today she dreams about Hearables and unbundling as a way to recover our calling as a rehab profession with our patients at the forefront.    In her piece in the New York Times titled, No Hearing Aid? Some Gizmos Offer Alternative to ‘Speak Up, ’ Paula

“I think it’s inevitable that the upward trend line will start to normalize and get flatter. The current market forces in play are going to begin dropping that trend line closer to CPI…albeit not nearly as much as the average consumer would like it to be…” (Comment from Anonymous on the 2013 Price series) Inevitable is a strong word, but

Real Price at retail isn’t rising in general and is actually falling for Premium products.  Something similar but even more dramatic is happening on the wholesale level. So concluded last week’s post and is the jumping off place today.   Average Wholesale Price Functions   Average wholesale Price of hearing aids increased faster than inflation1 for the last decade ($18/year,

This series now steps into the dark and murky realm of manufacturers’ wholesale pricing of product to see how the market has changed since 2013.  The caveats remain the same:   Big assumptions:  Categorical lines separating Economy, Premium, and everything in between are arbitrary to some extent, reflecting the varying family of products, product-specific technology levels, and price points adopted by

“Space is a scarce resource in a hearing aid.” That simple but powerful observation heralds the purpose of Oticon’s US patent #9338569 (Portable Electronic Device Comprising a Folded Substrate), shown in the title image. That purpose is to cram as much amplification technology as possible into the smallest space. Oticon’s next patented step is to use the folded substrate in a

“Peeling the Onion” is a monthly column by Harvey Abrams, PhD.   My last post, “Waiting for the Second Shoe (of three) to Drop” online pharmacy stendra for sale with best prices today in the USA , was written just before the most recent IoM report was published. Now that it has, we are waiting for the last of the Hearing Health

by Holly Hosford-Dunn, PhD & Amyn Amlani, PhD   Average Sale Price of hearing aids in the US retail market (ASP) grew at the rate of inflation from 2004-2011, peaked in price in 2012 and declined each year thereafter. At no time has ASP ever hit $6K/set, no matter how many times that anchor price gets bandied around. These are the

“Signal & Noise” is a bimonthly column by Brian Taylor, AuD. A few weeks ago the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) issued their report on the status of hearing health care for adults and their 12 recommendations for improving it. This report was billed as landmark, groundbreaking and a major milestone, and, if it is received by key stakeholders like

by Holly Hosford-Dunn, PhD and Amyn Amlani,PhD   The Pricing series revs up for a multi-year update today, just in time to get in on the PCAST and IOM action of recent days and await signs from the FDA.  In 2013, the announced intent was to “dive down and muck around with Price to test accepted assumptions.”  Time for more