Hearing
Explainer
What hearing aids cost in 2026 — and who actually pays
The average pair now costs about $2,700 — down 42% since 2018 — and Original Medicare pays none of it. The money picture, drawn plainly.
September 2026
Independent · Evidence-based
Cost is one of the two reasons most often given for not doing anything about hearing — the other being the belief that it isn't bad enough yet[8] — and it is a fair one. Hearing aids are expensive, the pricing is opaque, and the single most common assumption about who pays for them is wrong. The one number to hold onto: in the largest recent owner survey, the average price paid was about $2,694 a pair, down 42% from $4,672 in 2018.[1] Prices are falling; who pays has not changed. What follows is the money picture as clearly as it can be drawn: what the devices actually cost, what Medicare does and does not do, and the several routes that reduce the number.
What they cost
Prices span an unusually wide range, because two quite different products share one name.
Prescription hearing aids. In HearingTracker's 2025 pricing survey of 1,112 owners (published January 2026, updated July 2026), private-pay prices per pair at traditional clinics averaged roughly $2,150 at the entry tier, $4,018 mid-range, and $5,225 at the top tier. With insurance contributing, the same tiers averaged about $1,481, $1,970, and $3,531.[1] These prices are usually bundled: the figure includes the fitting, the follow-up appointments, and often several years of routine service.
Over-the-counter devices. Far wider, and far lower at the bottom. The same survey put the OTC category average around $502 per pair, with budget products advertised for as little as a few tens of dollars and OTC brands that bundle remote professional support costing considerably more — Jabra Enhance, the survey's example, had a median price of $1,695.[1] Worth noting alongside those figures: independent lab testing cited by HearingTracker found that devices below roughly $500 tended toward consistently poor sound quality, with performance improving sharply as prices approached $1,000.[1] Cheapest and lowest-risk are not the same thing.
One structural note. Some clinics unbundle — quoting the devices and the professional services separately.[1] This lowers the upfront number and makes it possible to compare device prices directly, but it means follow-up visits are billed as they occur. Neither model is a trick; they are just different ways of paying for the same two things, and a bundled quote and an unbundled one cannot be compared on headline price alone.
Why Original Medicare doesn't cover them
This surprises people every year, and it is unambiguous. Medicare states plainly: “Original Medicare doesn't cover hearing aids or exams for fitting hearing aids.”[2]
What Part B does cover is diagnostic hearing and balance exams when a doctor or other provider orders them to determine whether you need medical treatment — and, since 2023, one visit to an audiologist every 12 months without an order, for non-acute hearing conditions such as loss that has developed over many years. After the Part B deductible you pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount.[2] So the test that tells you where you stand is covered, and no longer needs a referral; the device that follows is not.
The exclusion is statutory rather than administrative: the Medicare statute itself excludes “routine physical checkups, eyeglasses… hearing aids or examinations therefor” from coverage,[9] and the regulations exclude hearing aids without limitation.[6] It has been the subject of recurring legislative proposals and has not changed for Original Medicare. Nor does a Medigap policy fill the gap: Medicare's own summary lists hearing aids among the things Medigap plans generally don't cover.[10]
What the coverage rules say
Original Medicare covers diagnostic hearing and balance exams when ordered by a provider, allows one audiologist visit every 12 months without an order for non-acute hearing loss, and does not cover hearing aids or the exams for fitting them.[2] Summarized from Medicare.gov. Coverage details can change; confirm against your own plan documents.
Medicare Advantage: usually something, rarely everything
Medicare Advantage plans may offer supplemental benefits that Original Medicare does not, and hearing is among the most common. KFF's analysis of 2021 plan data found that 97% of Medicare Advantage enrollees were in plans offering some hearing benefit, and 95% had access to both hearing exams and hearing aids.[3] That has held: in 2026, KFF puts the share of enrollees in plans offering hearing exams and/or aids at 95%.[11]
The important detail is what “offering a hearing aid benefit” means in practice. In the 2021 analysis — the most recent in which KFF published this level of detail — about 60% of enrollees were in plans requiring cost-sharing for hearing aids, ranging from $5 to $3,355. Roughly 22% paid nothing per device, but virtually all of those were in plans with a maximum annual limit; and where plans capped hearing-aid spending, the average limit was about $960, ranging from $66 to $4,000.[3]
A cap of that size against a mid-tier pair at $4,018 is a meaningful contribution and not a solution. Benefits also frequently route you to a specific network or vendor. If a hearing benefit is part of why you chose or are choosing a plan, the questions that matter are: what is the annual maximum, which providers and devices qualify, how often does the benefit renew, and does it cover one device or two.
Nearly every Medicare Advantage plan offers a hearing benefit. Almost none of them cover a full pair of mid-tier devices.
The routes that genuinely reduce the number
FSAs and HSAs
Hearing aids are a qualifying medical expense. IRS Publication 502 states: “You can include in medical expenses the cost of a hearing aid and batteries, repairs, and maintenance needed to operate it.”[4] That makes them payable from a health savings account or flexible spending account with pre-tax dollars — an effective discount equal to your marginal tax rate, which is one of the largest reductions available to most buyers and requires nothing beyond timing the purchase to the account.
If you have an FSA, note the plan-year deadline; if an HSA, the funds roll over and the timing is yours.
VA benefits
For veterans this is often the single largest lever, and eligibility is broader than commonly assumed. Per the VA's own audiology fact sheet, any veteran enrolled and eligible for care is eligible for hearing aids — service connection is not required, nor is a primary care referral. The VA provides devices from multiple manufacturers at no charge for the hearing aids themselves, though a copayment may apply per visit depending on eligibility status.[5]
Financing and subscription models
Several sellers now offer monthly payment plans, and some offer subscription arrangements that bundle the devices with ongoing professional support for a recurring fee. These can genuinely help with cash flow, and the support-included versions address a real gap.
Three things to work out before signing. First, the total: multiply the monthly figure by the full term and compare it against the outright price — financing sometimes carries interest and sometimes does not, and the difference is substantial. Second, the endpoint: at the end of a subscription term, do you own the devices, return them, or continue paying? Ownership and rental look similar on a monthly basis and are very different over five years. Third — and this is new — what happens to the devices, the app, and the support if the company stops operating. In July 2026 the parent of the Eargo, Lexie, and Go Hearing brands announced a wind-down of its U.S. business, guaranteeing customer support only through mid-September and warning that its apps would not remain available indefinitely; warranty administration beyond that date was, in its own words, not finalized.[12] A subscription is a bet on the counterparty as much as on the device.
Other routes worth a call
- Some state Medicaid programmes cover hearing aids for adults: 32 states did so at the end of 2023, up over the preceding six years, and about 70% of adult Medicaid beneficiaries live in one of them — but what is covered varies substantially from state to state[7]
- Some employer health plans include a hearing benefit separate from medical coverage
- Membership organisations and warehouse clubs often have negotiated pricing programmes; Costco, for example, sells professionally fitted hearing aids at substantially lower prices than traditional clinics, membership required[1]
- Charitable and state assistance programmes exist in many areas for people who cannot otherwise afford devices
Putting a number on it
A worked illustration, using the survey averages above and round numbers. A mid-tier prescription pair at $4,018, less a Medicare Advantage hearing benefit at the 2021 average cap of $960, leaves $3,058; paid from an HSA by someone in the 22% federal bracket, the effective cost is roughly $2,400. The OTC version: a pair at $500 to $1,700, paid the same way, comes to roughly $390 to $1,325. Your plan's cap, your bracket, and your state taxes will move those numbers; the shape of the arithmetic will not. Check the VA route first if it applies, because it can take the device cost to zero.
And before spending anything, get the measurement — a diagnostic exam is the one part of this Original Medicare does cover, at 20% coinsurance after the deductible and, for gradual hearing loss, without a referral,[2] and it is what turns every subsequent decision into an informed one. We walk through what a test involves in the early signs of hearing loss, and what to check before paying in how to shop for hearing aids.
Please read
General information, not medical advice. Hearing changes can have many causes — a licensed hearing professional or physician is the right person to evaluate yours. Talk to your doctor before changing any treatment or device you rely on.
Sources & references
- HearingTracker. “How Much Do Hearing Aids Cost?” 2025 pricing survey. hearingtracker.com/how-much-do-hearing-aids-cost (opens in a new tab)
- Medicare.gov. “Hearing & balance exams.” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. medicare.gov/coverage/hearing-balance-exams (opens in a new tab)
- KFF. “Dental, Hearing, and Vision Costs and Coverage Among Medicare Beneficiaries in Traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage.” Figures cited are for 2021 plan data. kff.org (opens in a new tab)
- Internal Revenue Service. “Publication 502: Medical and Dental Expenses.” irs.gov/publications/p502 (opens in a new tab)
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. “VA Hearing Aids” fact sheet, Rehabilitation and Prosthetic Services. rehab.va.gov/PROSTHETICS/audiology (opens in a new tab)
- Center for Medicare Advocacy. “Medicare Coverage of Hearing Care and Audiology Services.” medicareadvocacy.org (opens in a new tab)
- Arnold ML, Tonti L, Phillips S, et al. “Number Of States Providing Medicaid Hearing Aid Coverage For Adults Increased; Variability Was Substantive, 2017–23.” Health Affairs, 2025;44(12):1522–1529. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2025.00270. healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2025.00270 (opens in a new tab)
- Powers TA, Carr K. “MarkeTrak 2022: Navigating the Changing Landscape of Hearing Healthcare.” Hearing Review, May 3, 2022. hearingreview.com (opens in a new tab)
- 42 U.S.C. § 1395y(a)(7), “Exclusions from coverage and medicare as secondary payer.” Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1395y (opens in a new tab)
- Medicare.gov. “Learn what Medigap covers.” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. medicare.gov/health-drug-plans/medigap/basics/coverage (opens in a new tab)
- Freed M, Fuglesten Biniek J, Damico A, Neuman T. “Medicare Advantage in 2026: Premiums, Out-of-Pocket Limits, Supplemental Benefits, and Prior Authorization.” KFF, June 5, 2026. kff.org (opens in a new tab)
- Bailey A. “Eargo and Lexie Parent LXE Hearing Begins U.S. Wind-Down; Support Beyond Sept. 15 Uncertain.” HearingTracker, July 15, 2026. hearingtracker.com/news (opens in a new tab)