It really depends if the barrier to entry for manufacture of hearing aids goes down. If there's still a ton of red tape to bring a hearing aid to market, you might not see very many new entrants and so you wouldn't see prices drop dramatically.
Of course the cost of getting a hearing aid will only include a trip to the pharmacy and the device itself and not doctor visits and all that, so it still benefits people that need them.
Actually, the cost will likely include shipping and handling, as the manufacturers can sell direct to consumers. As I count it, that's at least 2 layers of middlemen that can be removed.
That sounds to me like manufacturers can now capture the profit that two layers of middle men once captured. Call it 1.5 to keep the price lower than going through the doctor
Sure, but hopefully it'll make the barrier of entry easier. I've been noticing that the market does seem to work well when the barrier to entry is low. It seems feasible that simple hearing aids shouldnt be much more expensive than cheap earbuds after a few years.
They could, but each middleman adds a minimum amount of additional cost. Cost which is now easy margin for new entrants to compete with, for very little extra work or profit loss.
Of course the cost of getting a hearing aid will only include a trip to the pharmacy and the device itself and not doctor visits and all that, so it still benefits people that need them.