HAs (analog VS digital)

Deborah, I don't think you indicated your daughter's db loss. That might make a difference in how people notice a difference between analog vs. digital. My db loss is at 100/105 so maybe I'm a little too deaf to notice a difference between analog and digital. Both of my old analogs (they were 14 years old) happened to break in the same week 3 years ago so I went from wearing 2 to 0 all of a sudden, so I replaced one with a brand-new analog (because of the cost difference), and only one. I don't know if my 14-year old aids (which is ancient for HAs!) had lost so much power or if they were just not as powerful at all to begin with compared to the new analog I got, but it was like WOW! Wearing one analog felt the equivalent of the TWO analogs that had just broken. So I didn't even bother to get a 2nd HA until about 6 months ago when I was offered a new digital aid at no cost. And in the past 6 months with that new digital aid, I still can't tell a difference between the two except for the battery-low beeping. All in all, when it comes time to replace either one of these 2 HAs (which shouldn't be for a good while yet), as long as analogs are still being produced and carry the same power (or more) of the analog one I have now, I most likely will stick with analog especially because of the cost savings. Just my 2 cents. :)
 
overthepond said:
I thought that in US the children up to age of 18 can get HA's free or on loan (not sure which as i don't know how US works as i am British)

Something you should look into, Deborah. Perhaps someone on site knows more...
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I wish! Nope--for the most part, most health insurance companies won't cover hearing aids. Now, when she was one year old and we weren't making much of an annual salary, she did get her first pair of analog hearing aids for free: it was through the state we lived in back then. Then we moved to another state and digital aids were recommended--we were convinced that she would hear so much better with digitals so we just HAD to get them--by that point, our annual salary had risen(not a lot but enough to bump us out of the "free coverage" group)--my extended family got together and donated money to us so that we could buy our daughter digital aids(total for two was about $6,000 back then!)(my grandmother donated a large part of that!). Well, here we are about 9 years later--live in yet another state and our annual salary LOOKS good even though times are very very tough right now--we don't qualify for ANY programs that are based on income levels(you know, they THINK we "make too much money" to deserve financial aid, but that is such a joke--you REALLY have to fall far below the poverty line to qualify for help in the U.S. these days!). Anyway--our current health insurance clearly states that hearing aids are NOT a covered expense, we do not qualify for any programs that help people below a certain income, and my entire extended family is pretty much "tapped out"--none of us can really do much to contribute to a large hearing aid fund right now. I am sure you are hearing a lot about the U.S. economy "across the pond"--well, a lot of us can tell you: it's bad, it's really really bad--and most of us in the "middle class" are suffering the most. We are just struggling to hang on, but there isn't any leeway for "extras"--in other words, we simply cannot afford to do things right now that hopefully we will be able to do in the future. Just some info from those of us "in the trenches"--the economy is keeping us from doing a LOT of things we really NEED to do but cannot afford to do right now!
 
AlleyCat said:
Deborah, I don't think you indicated your daughter's db loss. That might make a difference in how people notice a difference between analog vs. digital. My db loss is at 100/105 so maybe I'm a little too deaf to notice a difference between analog and digital. Both of my old analogs (they were 14 years old) happened to break in the same week 3 years ago so I went from wearing 2 to 0 all of a sudden, so I replaced one with a brand-new analog (because of the cost difference), and only one. I don't know if my 14-year old aids (which is ancient for HAs!) had lost so much power or if they were just not as powerful at all to begin with compared to the new analog I got, but it was like WOW! Wearing one analog felt the equivalent of the TWO analogs that had just broken. So I didn't even bother to get a 2nd HA until about 6 months ago when I was offered a new digital aid at no cost. And in the past 6 months with that new digital aid, I still can't tell a difference between the two except for the battery-low beeping. All in all, when it comes time to replace either one of these 2 HAs (which shouldn't be for a good while yet), as long as analogs are still being produced and carry the same power (or more) of the analog one I have now, I most likely will stick with analog especially because of the cost savings. Just my 2 cents. :)
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My daughter has a sloping loss--begins in moderate with low tones, mostly in severe for most tones, and profound for the very high tones. I guess one thing I would say about the digitals--they SEEM to help her hear the high tones better than the analogs. Still, I'm not sure if she is really hearing "better" or just "differently"--but she seems to prefer the way she hears with digitals. But I really wonder if it is just a matter of getting used to hearing things a certain way. Something to think about! :)
 
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