BIG News! OTC Hearing Aids coming this fall

HLAA Makes News as Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids Move Closer to Store Shelves On Tuesday, August 16, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released the final rule for hearing aids sold directly to consumers, without a prescription. This will open the market to a new class of devices for adults with mild to moderate hearing loss. Executive Director Barbara Kelley is featured on many top media outlets as the news breaks. She talks about why HLAA supports this additional pathway to hearing health care. While these devices aren’t for everyone, it’s an exciting step to help some treat hearing loss sooner. HLAA Press Release (will open new page) …

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Medicare Coverage for Hearing Aids – Write to your Senator

News from HLAA National Office… HLAA is thrilled to announce that the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Build Back Better Act of 2021 (H.R. 5376) on November 19, 2021. The Build Back Better Act of 2021 includes the expansion of Medicare to cover hearing aids and services. HLAA has spent years supporting the idea of Medicare coverage of hearing aids and hearing health services. This year, HLAA spent our time since the spring in talks with members of Congress and key committees in the House of Representatives and the Senate, encouraging them to vote YES! to expand Medicare to …

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Open Captions in Theaters are Back! And Over-the-Counter Hearing Aids Update

Theaters are opening for live audiences again! The first open captioned performances in our area start this weekend.  There is also good news to share on the OTC hearing aids. Boston Opera House OC Performances The following performances have been identified as OC: Hadestown: 11/6/2021 Pretty Woman: 1/22/2022 To Kill a Mockingbird: 4/9/2022 Ain’t Too Proud: 4/23/2022 Wicked: 6/11/2022 Anastasia: 8/20/2022 Hamilton: 1/21/2023 and 3/4/2023 The times and links for tickets are on their website: https://boston.broadway.com/theatre/citizens-bank-opera-house/#accessibility   Trinity Rep OC Performances The following performances have been identified as OC:   A Christmas Carol: 11/7, 12/1, 12/2, 12/3, 12/4, and 12/5/2021 Tiny …

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Policy & Politics: Why Hearing Aids Are Not Covered by Medicare

Hearing Journal: Policy & Politics: Why Hearing Aids Are Not Covered by Medicare — cover story by Gordon Glantz It is unclear what former Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter meant when he said: “All our work, our whole life is a matter of semantics, because words are the tools with which we work, the material out of which laws are made, out of which the Constitution was written. Everything depends on our understanding of them.” It comes down to how words are heard, then interpreted. For the hearing impaired, both hearing and interpretation seemingly form an unholy alliance when it …

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