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BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart is now selling over-the-counter hearing aids at Walmart.com and in Walmart Vision Centers in Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas. The hearing aids will also be available soon at additional Walmart Vision Centers nationwide.
For the first time, hearing aids will be available in the U.S. to customers who are 18 years and older with perceived mild-to-moderate hearing loss without a medical exam or fitting adjustment needed by an audiologist. Walmart is excited to offer customers a broad assortment of high-quality hearing aids at a more affordable price. The chain is featuring an assortment of O-T-C hearing aids, ranging from $199 – $999 per pair. Options will include top brands like Lexie powered by Bose and HearX that will offer cutting-edge technology like Bluetooth and self-tuning app capabilities and discreet, sleek designs at everyday low prices.
Nearly 30 million American adults could benefit from using hearing aids, the company said. People with hearing loss are more likely to suffer from social isolation and depression, are three times more likely to be at risk of dementia and have an increased risk of falling and hospitalization.
“A person’s ‘whole health’ is a combination of many factors, including hearing, that influence physical and mental well-being,” said Dr. John Wigneswaran, chief medical officer at Walmart. “Offering easy access to OTC hearing aids – something that seems quite small – is a solution that can improve our customer’s health outcomes and their ability to live better and healthier.”
“With 150 million customers passing through our doors each week, Walmart is in a unique position to provide quality, affordable health and wellness services to all Americans where they live and shop. To help make it easy for customers to understand their OTC hearing aid options and Walmart’s offerings, Walmart is providing additional resources online to help customers find the right device for them,” he adds.
“Both my dad and I deal with hearing loss, and so I understand first-hand how it impacts a person’s ability to connect to their surroundings,” said Tammy Randall, a vision center associate in Oxford, Alabama for the past 10 years. “When I was able to help find a solution for my dad, nothing touched me more than when I said ‘dad’ and he could hear it clearly for the first time. Knowing the real difference this access has for people makes me so excited to have the opportunity to provide other people the chance to find an affordable product that works best for them.”
“Additionally, customers can also easily access a full range of health care services to address their ‘whole health’ and proactively manage their health through preventative care at our Walmart Health Centers. These state-of-the-art Walmart Health Centers offer hearing tests and other health care services for customers with a team of qualified medical professionals that can help them assess potential hearing loss, rule out underlying medical conditions, and determine if a hearing aid is right for them,” wrote , vice president, Health & Wellness of Optical and Hearing in blog post.
“Walmart is on a mission to transform the cost and convenience of health care in the communities we serve. Ninety percent of the population is located within 10 miles of a Walmart, which puts us in a unique position to provide health and wellness services to all Americans,” added.
