It’s no secret there’s a gap in healthcare access between urban and rural communities. According to the CDC, more than 46 million people live in rural America, but these communities have trouble attracting and retaining physicians and maintaining health services.
Earlier this week, President Biden met with his administration to discuss efforts in their July 2021 executive order to promote competition in the American economy. Provisions under this legislation are aimed at bridging the rural-urban healthcare gap.
Hearing Aids
According to Bharat Ramamurti, National Economic Council deputy director, roughly 48 million Americans experience mild or moderate hearing loss, yet only 14% seek out hearing aids.
The average American worker’s salary is $51,000, based on 2021 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. A pair of hearing aids costs $5,000, which Ramamurti says is likely the leading cause for low hearing aid purchases.
“We would change the rules so hearing aids could be available over the counter at your local drugstore for walk-in and pickup”, Ramamurti says. “It would cost a couple hundred dollars instead of a few thousand.”
Hearing aids are manufactured on an individual basis to ensure size and fit. With over-the-counter alternatives, Ramamurti says size and fit choices would be limited compared with seeing a specialist, but pocketbooks would be “provided far greater options.”
Walmart began selling their own over-the-counter hearing aid option late last year. Ramamurti says the Biden administration predicts other companies will follow suit this year.
In 2017, Sens. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., introduced the Over-the-Counter Hearing Aid Act, which was signed into law by President Trump later that year. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) then began work on the proposed over-the-counter hearing aids rule.
Grassley and Warren have urged the FDA key provisions on over-the-counter hearing aids, as further outlined in the Biden administrations executive order, be implemented quickly:
“Maintaining these provisions will ensure that the final regulation successfully increases competition, spurs innovation and brings down prices for consumers, while meeting the high standards of safety, manufacturing protections and consumer labeling required of all medical devices,” the senators said.
Hospital Price Transparency
Since 2010, the White House reports 138 rural hospitals have closed, with 19 buckling in 2021 alone.
Consolidations in hospitals and health insurance agencies has left many rural areas without good options for convenient and affordable healthcare, according to the Biden administration. The 10 largest healthcare systems now control a quarter of the market.
Updated merger guidelines for hospitals and health insurance companies, coupled with standardized plan options in the health insurance marketplace, will level the playing field, Ramamurti says. By increasing penalties, “there will be a lot more incentive” for hospitals and insurance companies to stop “surprise billing,” he adds.
Entrepreneur Mark Cuban recently launched his own online pharmacy to lower generic drug prices. Ramamurti says the administration is similarly “aligned” in trying to make sure there are more generic options for Americans, as they can save people 80% to 90%, in some instances.
