Sheila Nemcsok could afford her hearing aids, but many can’t — and she says that has to change

“How much would you pay to be able to hear music?”

That was the opening line of an essay Sheila Nemcsok recently posted on social media and for the partly deaf woman, the question wasn’t philosophical.

Nemcsok had postponed buying new hearing aids, letting her old ones falter and finally crumble to pieces. When she finally broke down and bought a new pair, however, the bill came to thousands of dollars.
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“I knew what it was going to cost, but it was still a big sticker shock,” she said.

She’s not blaming the clinic that sold them to her and she’s not calling for an across-the-board increase to financial assistance for people who rely on hearing aids.

Since hearing aid technology has taken a giant leap forward in recent years, Nemcsok is finding herself more able to participate in social life than ever before, but she thinks the system should allow those who can demonstrate a financial need to get a greater portion of their hearing aids paid for.

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