The decree of August 22, published in the Official Journal, will authorize the sale in pharmacies of hearing aids that improve and amplify the quality of sound. For people with mild hearing impairment, they are a complementary offer to hearing aids.
This decree definitively ends a 3-year-old battle between hearing aid professionals who sell hearing aids (1,500 euros per ear) and companies that have developed hearing aids often 5 times. less expensive (300 euros per ear).
These hearing aids are “preset listening assistants, with a maximum power of 20 decibels” recalls the decree. They amplify sound, not solve serious hearing problems. Prescribed without medical authorization or prescription, these devices are mainly intended for people over 55 with mild hearing problems.
“Not reimbursed by Social Security, our hearing systems can be covered by certain insurers” according to Maxence Petit, co-founder of Sonalto, a company that manufactures these devices, quoted by Le Parisien. “In addition, discussions are underway with many mutuals,” he told the journalist from Le Parisien.
The under-equipped French population
France has 6 million hard of hearing, of which 2.5 to 3 million should be equipped with hearing aids. But, according to the National Union of Audioprothesists (UNSAF), “only 1.5 million are. The main reason for this under-equipment is too high a financial cost for the Union. The average price of a hearing aid, all ranges combined, is € 1,535. This figure includes the device itself, the initial service (analysis, adaptation of the device and adjustments) and prosthetic follow-up spread over an average of 5 years. Today, the Health Insurance reimburses € 120 per device, additional health insurance € 350 on average, or € 470 in total. It remains the responsibility of the patients about 1000 € per hearing aid.
“France is very late in terms of reimbursement of hearing aids. This situation is quite worrying for the aging population, because poor hearing is a factor of cognitive decline which greatly increases the risk of becoming addicted ”explains Luis Godinho, president of the UNSAf.
