This is a question about the price rather than about a policy, and it has a short published answer at the level that matters most to the people asking it. Medicare.gov states plainly that Original Medicare does not cover hearing aids or exams for fitting hearing aids. That is the reason a hearing aid has a sticker price at all, the reason three sellers publish complete price lists, and the reason this section of the record exists. What follows is what the official position actually says. It is not advice about anybody's plan, and this site does not give any.
Ask providers for a written price
What Medicare.gov says, in its own terms
Two sentences do the work. Original Medicare does not cover hearing aids or exams for fitting hearing aids. Part B does cover diagnostic hearing and balance exams when a doctor or other health care provider orders them to find out whether medical treatment is needed, and for those, after the Part B deductible is met, the patient pays 20% of the Medicare-approved amount, plus a copayment to the hospital in an outpatient setting. Medicare.gov also notes that a patient may visit an audiologist once every 12 months without a provider order, but only for non-acute hearing conditions such as hearing loss that develops over many years, and for diagnostic services related to hearing loss treated with surgically implanted hearing devices.
Why that one fact sets the whole price
Almost everything unusual about how hearing aids are sold in the United States follows from the largest payer covering none of it. There is no negotiated rate, no benefit schedule and no explanation of benefits, so the seller has to name a number to the buyer directly. That is why the three lists in this record exist to be quoted at all, and why they range from $98 to $1,995 a pair rather than clustering around an allowed amount. In the rest of American healthcare, price opacity is the norm precisely because a third party is paying; here the patient pays, so the price is on the page.
What this page will not do
It will not tell any reader what their own plan covers, whether a particular Medicare Advantage plan includes a hearing benefit, how to claim one, or how to appeal a denial. Those are questions about a contract between a person and an insurer, and answering them is insurance advice, which this site does not publish on any page. The distinction the record works to is simple and it is the one drawn here: whether something is typically paid for by the patient is a fact about its price and belongs on a price record, and what a particular plan owes a particular person is advice and does not.
What a self-payer can price today
Three sellers publish a complete list. Audien Hearing runs from $98 to $689 a pair across six models. MDHearing runs from $297 to $597 across four. Jabra Enhance runs from $1,195 to $1,995 across three, with three years of audiology services included in the figure. All are quoted per pair and all carry a stated risk-free trial, 45, 60 and 100 days respectively. Those are the numbers a person paying for themselves can compare before speaking to anyone, which is the practical answer to what a senior actually pays when the answer to the insurance question is nothing.
Other questions people ask
Does Original Medicare cover hearing aids at all?
No. Medicare.gov states that Original Medicare does not cover hearing aids or exams for fitting hearing aids. It does cover diagnostic hearing and balance exams that a provider orders to determine whether medical treatment is needed.
What do I pay for a covered hearing exam?
Per Medicare.gov, after the Part B deductible the patient pays 20% of the Medicare-approved amount, and in a hospital outpatient setting also pays the hospital a copayment.
Can I see an audiologist without a referral?
Medicare.gov states that a patient may visit an audiologist once every 12 months without an order from a health care provider, but only for non-acute hearing conditions and for diagnostic services related to hearing loss treated with surgically implanted hearing devices.
What about Medicare Advantage or a private plan?
That is a question about a specific contract and this site does not answer it. What it records is the published self-pay price, which is what a person pays when no plan pays.