Barbara Kelly HLAA

By Barbara Kelley, Executive Director, Hearing Loss Association of America

Follow Barbara on Twitter, @Bkelley_HLAA.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is preparing the final rules for a new class of hearing aids that will soon be available in stores and online, without a doctor’s prescription. The idea is to make hearing aids easier to get and more affordable for millions of American adults with mild-to-moderate hearing loss, and it will mean navigating a sea of new information.

Currently, only about 1 in 5 people who could benefit from hearing aids get them — even though untreated hearing loss is linked to mental decline, depression, and falls. Read More…