Today is the first day that over-the-counter hearing aids can be sold without a prescription. It’s a moment that Fort Worth-based Lucid Hearing has been eyeing for years.
The hearing healthcare company’s latest plans to roll out a new line of hearing aids were set in motion by a recent Food and Drug Administration ruling that opened up the hearing device market to OTC sales.
The company will offer its hearing aids to consumers in more than 450 Sam’s Club locations nationwide beginning today.
Only one in five people who could benefit from a hearing aid actually uses one, according to the Hearing Loss Association of America. It’s a boon for people with perceived mild-to-moderate hearing loss and a giant step in closing accessibility and affordability gaps in hearing health, the company said.
Lucid says it offers free tests for people over the age of 19 at its more than 500 hearing centers, most of which are already located inside Sam’s Club locations. Lucid Hearing will also continue to partner with Sam’s Club to sell its prescriptive devices.
Developed with the help of UT Dallas research, Lucid’s OTC product offers features like wireless streaming and comes in a variety of styles.
R&D exec Bennett Griffin says Lucid’s “significant investment in scientific and innovative pre-set programs” was a result of the UTD audiology research. The engineering offers a unique advantage that can help cover the vast majority of consumers’ perceived mild to moderate hearing loss needs, he notes.
“Our technology for these devices has been in the making for years,” said Lucid Hearing President and COO Jason Kidd, adding that UT Dallas is a top audiology research university.
Lucid’s OTC hearing aids are priced from $199.99 to $1,699.99 and can be purchased through Sam’s Club, as well as other retail outlets, Amazon, and lucidhearing.com. Sam’s Club pricing for Lucid’s OTC hearing aids will range from $199 to $799, according to the company.
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