It may shock some of you to learn this, but most health care plans do not cover hearing aids. I have no idea why. If glasses are covered, why not HA? But my current insurance actually has coverage. It’s through Kaiser Permanente, although I don’t know if it’s available to anyone enrolled with KP or if it’s something extra my employer negotiated (hey the salary may suck, the boss may suck, but the bennies are pretty good).

It works like this: they will replace one hearing aid per ear every three years. It’s been just three years since I got one of my HA, and five since I got the other, so right now I can replace both of them. They cover up to $1000 per HA, which is not stellar (the amount hasn’t changed in the last five years, but the average cost of a very basic analog super powered HA which is what I have now has gone from about $950 to $1200 in that time).

I’m opting for two digital HA this time, which are $1400 apiece. I was going to get one next month, with the rental payment from the new tenant, and then wait until January (after xmas shopping) to spring for the second one. But with my birthday coming up, turns out my family and friends have chipped in enough that I’ll go ahead and get both at once in a few weeks!

I’m particularly looking forward to digital. I should be able to get attachments, including bluetooth, for them that will let me hook directly into a variety of things. Maybe they will work well, maybe not. But I’ll have fun with the techy side of things. In any case, dightal HA are programmable, and it will be nice to have several modes available. I’ve tested digital HA out before (right when they first came out in ‘95 or so) but have not been able to afford them until now.