General Questions
We’re committed to helping you on your journey to better hearing health. Part of that commitment is ensuring you have the information you need to make educated decisions regarding hearing tests and treatment options. Here are some frequently asked questions about hearing loss and audiologists. You can schedule an appointment easily online at any of our five locations in New York City, Scarsdale and Stamford.
We generally will not service a hearing aid that is purchased elsewhere. In rare cases, we might enroll a patient in a concierge program where they pay a monthly fee to get free on-call service and free batteries. Almost all manufacturers will not honor a hearing aid warranty if the device is purchased online.
At Audio Help Hearing Centers, most patients are enrolled in a concierge plan, as a part of their Hearing Aid Purchase, which provides free batteries and free follow-up visits for five years. Your insurance will be billed for an Annual Hearing test, but all in-office Hearing Aid visits are covered in your bundled purchase. Repairs, supplies and accessories will incur an added cost.
At Audio Help we take all precautions needed to ensure a Covid-save environment. We do require patients to wear masks in our offices, and we sanitize our treatment rooms and waiting rooms after each patient. All our audiologists are fully vaccinated. It is completely safe to come to our offices.
There are many audiologists operating in the greater metropolitan area and throughout Westchester and Connecticut. At Audio Help Hearing Centers we are committed to providing the highest quality of care, due to our commitment to better hearing. All our audiologists are Doctors of Audiology, thus having achieved the highest level of professionalism possible. Our goal is to have happy, satisfied patients who will have a relationship with Audio Help Hearing Centers for many years. We go to great lengths to make sure our patients have the best possible outcome with their hearing devices.
Hearing Aid Questions
Purchasing hearing aids is an important step toward improving your hearing health. It’s essential to understand what you can expect while wearing hearing aids and the cost associated with their care and upkeep. The following are answers to frequently asked questions about hearing aids. If you have further questions, feel free to call us and one of our audiologists will help!
No. While the technology in the hearing aid industry is constantly improving, it is not likely that the hearing aids you purchase today will be meaningfully outdated for 2-3 years. We do recommend a three-year purchase cycle, as that generally is the length of the warranty, and also the time frame when your next purchase will represent a significant improvement for you in terms of the quality of your hearing.
Yes. At Audio Help Hearing Centers we offer monthly payment plans for patients who qualify for financing.
Yes, there definitely are grades of hearing aids. Every major brand has 3-4 different grades, with the higher end offering more capabilities (at a higher cost) than those on the lower end of the scale.
At Audio Help, if you require service, you simply call our office and make an appointment to come in for help. Normally, this can be accomplished within the same day or the next day.
You will find a major difference between the total hearing aid experience from an online purchase versus what you would find by visiting an independent audiologist organization such as Audio Help Hearing Centers. Specifically, at Audio Help our goal is to fit you with the best possible hearing aid based on your hearing needs and your budget. It is unlikely that you will get this level of service from an online purchase. Further, when you purchase online you do not have the same level of professional follow-up from a Doctor of Audiology that you would by coming to Audio Help. Hearing aids normally require 1-3 follow-up appointments to maximize their effectiveness. These appointments are free from Audio Help Hearing Centers.
Yes. It is very likely that you can purchase hearing aids less expensively at Costco than going to an independent audiologist such as Audio Help. Costco is able to get their items in bulk and save a lot on them. That’s one reason people love Costco. However, it is important to understand the quality of service you are considering at Costco compared to what you might get when you purchase from an independent audiologist.
At Audio Help Hearing Centers, you have unlimited follow-up visits at no charge, and importantly you can always see the same audiologist who understands your situation. At Costco, you are seen by Hearing Instrument Specialists who receive 3-4 months of training, compared to our Doctors of Audiology who have 6+ years of training, and you probably will not see the same specialist every time you come due to the high levels of turnover Costco experiences with these people.
Also, it is important to understand that manufacturers will sometimes make off-brand items for Costco. And while the technology might be comparable to what you can get in our offices, the services are not. You should also compare the warranty you get at Costco and the cost and availability of follow-up appointments and whether you get batteries for free as you would from Audio Help Hearing Centers.
Yes, some health insurance companies provide benefits for hearing aids; however, the amount of the benefit varies widely. Our audiologists can help you to determine whether your insurance provides any benefits for hearing aids and if so what the amount will be.
At Audio Help Hearing Centers, you are able to donate your old hearing aids to our nonprofit 501(c)3 organization and we can give you a receipt which you can use as a donation when you file your income taxes. As with other donations of merchandise, you will establish the amount of the donation, but our audiologists can help you with suggestions.
The duration of battery life depends both on the type of battery (as there are different batteries for different types of hearing aids) and the amount and type of listening you do, ie. external sources such as telephones or podcasts. Some batteries need to be changed every 3-4 days, whereas others will last about a week.
There also are hearing aids with rechargeable batteries, which must be charged every evening.
You can purchase these batteries online or in your local pharmacies/grocery stores, but they can cost around $1.00 per individual battery. At Audio Help we provide hearing aid batteries free for the devices purchased here. Batteries are free when patients come to our offices to pick them up. If it is necessary for us to mail them to you, a $5.00 mailing charge will be assessed. Most others do not provide free batteries, so it is necessary to purchase them at retail or from your hearing aid supplier, and the cost can add up to around $500 per year.