Thursday, May 11, 2017

Elizabeth Warren wants you deaf

Warren is taking a break from her book tour/endless fight to advance some legislation.  (I know, I'm as surprised as you are.)  I'm sure she thinks "I'm helping!" but as Reason Hit and Run notes, the end result of the legislation would be to price out low-cost hearing aids:
Far from stripping away regulation to make it simpler and cheaper for people to care for their hearing needs, the Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Act of 2017 loads on regulation that would, if passed, likely drive low-cost alternatives to hearing aids out of the market.
The big players in hearing aids ("Big Ear"?) are pouring money into lobbying, companies like Bose that make a big markup on prescription hearing aids.  Either Warren doesn't know any better or she's trying to puff up her anemic legislative record.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

John Oliver and Elizabeth Warren, eh? Must be... a slow news day?

Eric said...

Meh, everybody else is doing Trump.

sdharms said...

Hearing aids ARE AVAILABLE 'over the counter". I can walk into any store front that sells them, get a hearing test and go home with a hearing aid. They are NOT DOCTORS and do not give prescriptions. They MAY be audiologists or they may just be trained technicians who can run the booth.

Doctors are not necessarily involved -- and no Rx necessary.