The White House celebrated the end of the five-year wait for implementation of the Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Act of 2017 today with a neat list of big-box retailers and pharmacies already selling OTC hearing aids. Here’s a rundown:
- Walgreens is selling user-adjustable Lexie Lumen OTC hearing aids for $799 at stores across the U.S. as well as online.
- CVS is selling Lexie B1 and Lexie B2 Hearing Aids Powered by Bose on its website for $849.99 and $999 respectively. (The B1 and B2 come with a self-fitting software app and are slightly more advanced models in the Lexie Hearing product line than than the lower-priced Lexie Lumen model sold by Walgreens). CVS says it will supplement its online sales with a rollout to select CVS Pharmacy locations starting in November.
- Walmart is selling an assortment of OTC hearing aids on Walmart.com, SamsClub.com, and in 474 Sam’s Club Hearing Aid Center locations and more than 1,000 Vision Centers in Walmart stores across Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas. Available products will range in price from $199 to $999 per pair, including products from Lexie Hearing, Go Hearing, and Lucid Hearing.
- Hy-Vee, the supermarket chain, will sell OTC hearing aids online and in 34 of its pharmacies across Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and Wisconsin, with up to 100 locations by the end of the year. Hy-Vee will offer four models supplied by iHear Direct ranging in price from $499.99 to $999.99.
- Best Buy is offering nearly 20 different hearing devices online, including models from Jabra, Lexie Hearing, Go Hearing , Eargo, Lucid Hearing, and Hearing Assist. By the end of October, it will sell OTC hearing aids in nearly 300 stores across the country. Devices will range in price between $200 and $3,000.
And that’s just a very early list, which doesn’t mention high-quality OTC hearing aids available (or soon-to-be-available) from experienced manufacturers such as Sony, MD Hearing Aid, and Nuheara, to name just three. We’ll be posting on these and other products as the newly deregulated OTC hearing aid market heats up.