August 19, 2022

Affordable Hearing Aids to Be Available Over the Counter Nationwide

The FDA ruled on Tuesday that a new category of over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids will become available for purchase without a prescription or medical exam beginning in October.

The ruling comes as part of President Biden’s Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy. In addition to making hearing aids widely available to the public, this historic rule is expected to help lower costs and assure the effectiveness and safety of hearing aids for the 30 million Americans with mild to moderate hearing loss.

The availability of OTC hearing aids has the potential to save American families upwards of $3,000 on a pair of hearing aids.

The OTC devices are expected to become available to the public in retail and drug stores nationwide immediately when the rule takes effect, as soon as mid-October, without the need for a medical exam, prescription or fitting adjustment by an audiologist.

President Roach celebrated the FDA ruling, saying, “This is a major step toward lowering health care costs for American families – especially for older Americans. It goes hand-in-hand with lowering prescription drug prices for seniors through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).”