'Some audiologists expressed worry that giving people direct access to hearing tests and hearing aids would hurt their business model, which has traditionally r

'Some audiologists expressed worry that giving people direct access to hearing tests and hearing aids would hurt their business model, which has traditionally relied on bundled pricing that lumped the device cost with services, Lin said. Surveyed in August 2022 just after the FDA ruling, less than 27 percent of audiologists said they would start selling OTC hearing aids, about 42 percent indicated they would “unbundle” their fees to compete with OTC hearing aid prices, and about 56 percent would support patients with OTC hearing aids purchased elsewhere. In another recent survey, about one in five audiologists said they will not sell or service OTC devices. In discussions leading up to the launch of Hearing Number, hearing aid companies were “not very keen,” Lin said. On a call explaining the idea of a standard metric to equip people to measure their hearing and act on it, he recalled a director of marketing piping up in disbelief: “So, Dr. Lin, you’re telling me you want to emancipate the consumers?”'