Hearing Aids and Hearing Loss Resources
What does hearing loss sound like?
Fred Flintstone Video Hearing Loss Simulation (1 min). Clarity is lost with hearing loss.
The Journey of Sound to the Brain (2+ min)
Click on the graphic above. Find out what people with hearing loss and vision loss experience with the DeafBlind Simulator from the State of Minnesota. (1 minute)
Click on the graphic above. Find out what people with hearing loss experience with Starkey’s Hearing Loss Simulator.
- Choose a situation
- Select the hearing loss level you want to hear
- Click Play
- Set your computer volume to 50% for the best experience
What does high-frequency hearing loss sound like? (51 seconds)
Hearing Loss
Hearing Loss Statistics (this website)
Hearing more clearly
- Use Assistive Listening Systems:
- Listen to the clean sound (this website)
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Standards (this website). You have civil rights and legal rights to hear in public and private places.
- Support, education, information, advocacy. Hearing Loss Association of America, HLAA (website)
- Catalogs and stores (this website) that sell assistive listening devices, including phones, personal listening systems, and TV headphones.
- Why restaurants are so loud, and what science says we can do about it 6/2/24 Washington Post (webpage)
Hearing tests
- Hearing Tests: audiologist or hearing instrument specialist, Review of 10 online hearing tests (webpage) and 2-page paper (pdf) test from Better Hearing Institute.
- Hearing Number (website)
Hearing loss research on comorbidities (risk factors. Correlations, not causations)
- Beck, D. et al. (Feb 18, 2025) Untreated Hearing Loss, Hearing Aids, and Cognition: Correlational Outcomes 2025, HearingTracker.
- The ACHIEVE study, dementia and hearing aid use (website)
- Campos et al. (14 June 2023) Consistent hearing aid use is associated with lower fall prevalence and risk in older adults with hearing loss Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Understanding Your Audiogram
Understanding Your Audiogram. HLAA Boston with Dr. King Chung (1 hr, 34 minutes)
Hearing Aids
Choosing an audiologist
- Article, Hearing Health for Older Adults: What Older Adults Need to Know About Hearing Loss. National Council on Aging (NCOA). 5/13/22. Whyman and Sterkens (webpage)
- How to Find a Good Audiologist (webpage). Hearing Tracker 2022. See section on “What if I need hearing aids?”
Be an informed hearing aid user
- Open Letter (webpage) to Hard of Hearing Consumers and Patients. K. Cavitt, AuD. July 23, 2023
- NIDCD free publications on Hearing Aids, Cochlear Implants, with both English and Spanish versions. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), conducts and supports research in the normal and disordered processes of hearing, balance, taste, smell, voice, speech, and language.
Hearing aid reviews
The most important decision is choosing your audiologist. They will help you decide which hearing aid options would work for you and customize your hearing aids.
- OTC hearing aids: What Do Consumers Need To Know? Manchaiah et al, (2023, webpage) and HLAA Tips (1 page, pdf)
- Hearing Aid reviews: Consumer Reports Hearing Aids and Hearing Tracker
- Tinnitus resources, James Henry, PhD (webpage)
Locked Hearing Aids
Some hearing aid retail stores and clinics sell “locked” hearing instruments, meaning only offices of that particular brand (such as Beltone, NuEar, Kirkland, and Miracle Ear but there are others) can adjust/reprogram these instruments.
Hearing Aids-Limitations and Good Fitting
Limitations of hearing aids
See Limitations webpage (this website)
Audiology Professional Best Practices
Standards
- Current Audiology Standards (webpage) Audiology Practice Standards Organization (APSO)
- Practice Guidelines and Standards (webpage). American Academy of Audiology (AAA)
- Accreditation Standards (webpage). Academy of Doctors of Audiology (ADA)
Ethics
- AAA Code of Ethics (American Academy of Audiology)
- ASHA Code of Ethics (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association)
- IHS Code of Ethics (International Hearing Society)
Certification
- Certification (webpage). American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)
Articles
- Turton, et al. “Guidelines for Best Practice in the Audiological Management of Adults with Severe and Profound Hearing Loss.” Seminars in Hearing 41, no. 03 (August 2020): 141–246. “Unless contraindicated, the hearing care professional should activate the t-coil where fitted and arrange for the client to experience a good working inductive loop, as this remains the most widespread and effective way to hear well in public spaces.”
- Marcos-Alonso S (June 13, 2023) Journal of Clinical Medicine. Factors Impacting the Use or Rejection of Hearing Aids—A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Improperly fitted hearing aids (research articles)
- Beck, D. (March 19, 2024). Hearing Aid Programming: Pearls and Pitfalls. Hearing Matters Podcast. Imagine discovering that the key to optimal hearing isn’t just in choosing a hearing aid, but in the precise individual calibration. This episode features a conversation with Dr. Ron Leavitt, a renowned audiologist who shines a light on the critical gaps in “best fit” settings provided by hearing aid manufacturers, compared to the National Acoustic Laboratories (NAL) targets. (webpage)
- Sterkens, J. and Whyman, W. (May 13, 2022, Aug 29, 2024). Hearing Health for Older Adults: What Older Adults Need to Know About Hearing Loss. National Council on Aging (NCOA). “While using hearing aids results in significant benefits for most users, it is not automatic that the most expensive hearing aids and advanced sound features will always be better for you. Unless the provider listens to you and adheres to a fitting protocol known as “Best Practices,” you might end up with hearing aids that do not meet your needs (webpage)
- Bell, R. (July/August 2021). Real-Ear Verification for the New Professional. Audiology Today. “using real-ear measures continues to be a critical piece in providing comprehensive clinical care to our patients“
- Clutterbuck, S. (October 2017) A premium clinic is more important than a premium hearing aid. Audiology Worldnews. EUHA Congress special.
- Clutterbuck, S. (October 2016). Real world outcomes for basic and premium hearing aids: Is there a difference? Audiology Now. “This analysis highlights the importance of the audiologist in mediating a successful outcome from hearing aid fitting, regardless of the level of technology.”
- Bloom, S. (September 2010). Are you a Paramecium Racer? An acronym points the way forward in hearing care. The Hearing Journal. (5 pages, pdf). “Of all those interviewed for this article, Sergei Kochkin, PhD, executive director of the Better Hearing Institute, is the most critical of the incompetence he sees as insidious throughout the industry. He believes that many hearing aids are not fitted properly; that based on letters he receives, discomfort and dissatisfaction among patients are rampant; and that the benefit of amplification when not properly fitted is often minimal. “Upgrade your skills,” Kochkin urges, calling on the professional organizations to police their members and audit their practices.”
- Hickson, L., S. Clutterbuck, and A. Khan. (Jun 2, 2010). Factors associated with hearing aid fitting outcomes on the IOI-HA. International Journal of Audiology. These findings highlight the importance of focusing rehabilitation on improving satisfaction with aided listening across a range of environments
- Kochkin, S. et al. (April 2010). Correlations between dispensing protocols and successful patient outcomes. The Hearing Review.
- Kochkin, S. (February 2000). MarkeTrak V: “Why my hearing aids are in the drawer”: The consumers’ perspective” The Hearing Journal
Introduction to Real Ear Measurements and why they are important when you purchase new hearing aids. Approximately 30% of hearing professionals provide this service. (9:45)
(August 25, 2025) In this video, I explain why Real Ear Measurements (REMs) are essential for hearing aid fittings: and why so many patients are missing out. (12:22)
Insurance and Purchasing Hearing Aids
Insurance
- Does Insurance Cover Hearing Aids? Coverage by State & Insurer in 2026 Hearing Tracker (Jul 25, 2026) Half of American hearing aid buyers now get some help from their medical insurance, double the rate from just a few years ago.
- Why Aren’t Hearing Aids Covered by Insurance? Hearing Tracker (Jul 9, 2026) Audiologists consider hearing aids medically necessary, yet only five U.S. states mandate adult insurance coverage.
Insurance-Medicare
Unfortunately, Medicare does not cover the purchase of hearing aids, but will often cover cochlear implants. However, Medicare usually covers hearing tests.
Professional audiologist associations (AAA, ADA, and ASHA) Support Critical Medicare Audiology Bill, H.R. 2757
Senators Warren, Paul, Grassley Reintroduce Medicare Audiology Access Improvement Act in U.S. Senate (June 26, 2025)
Purchasing hearing aids, on a sliding scale (financial resources)
Local resources, usually in the city, region, or state
- Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA)
- Hearing the Call
- Local clubs, such as Sertoma or Lions
- Local Speech and hearing centers, audiology clinics that are nonprofits
- Organizations for older adults
- State’s Department of vocational rehabilitation
- State Medicaid program
Insurance-Ally's Act for cochlear implants and BAHSs
Bipartisan/bicameral Federal bills that would close the loophole for private insurance companies to deny coverage for bone anchored hearing systems (BAHS) and cochlear implant systems (CI) for both children and adults from birth to age 64, including services, upgrades, surgery, and associated costs that come along with these hearing devices.
Hearing Aid Industry Map v13 – Updated for 2025 (1 page, pdf).
This is the 13th edition of its map that tracks ownership, investment, and private-labeling relationships within the hearing aid industry. There are over 120 hearing aid brands and subsidiaries in organized groups under their respective parent companies. From Hearing Tracker. Updated August 2026.