The Food and Drug Administration finalized a new rule this week that will allow certain hearing aids to be sold without a prescription.
The rule is expected to cover hearing aids for people with mild to moderate hearing loss, while those with more severe hearing loss will still need a prescription.
Currently, hearing aids can cost more than $5,000 and are not usually covered by insurance. This new rule, which will go into effect in October, creates a new class of hearing aids that don’t require a medical exam and can be sold online and over-the-counter in pharmacies or in retail stores.
This reel was produced by Julia Griffin, Yasmeen Alamiri, Casey Kuhn and Nicole Ellis.
Photos courtesy of Reuters and Getty Images.
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