Does Medicare Cover Hearing Aids?

No — Original Medicare (Part A and Part B) does not cover hearing aids, or exams for fitting hearing aids. If you have Original Medicare only, you pay 100% of the cost yourself. Medicare does cover the medical side of hearing loss: exams your doctor orders to find the problem and, when hearing aids can’t help enough, cochlear implants. For the hearing aids themselves, help comes from other places. In our analysis of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) plan filings, 96% of Medicare Advantage plans for 2026 include a hearing-aid benefit. FDA-regulated over-the-counter hearing aids have also lowered the entry price since 2022. (And no — no law has passed that starts Medicare hearing aid coverage in 2026. The two-minute version.)

Original Medicare does not pay for

• Hearing aids (any type)
• Exams for fitting hearing aids
• Over-the-counter hearing aids

Medicare does pay for

• Diagnostic hearing and balance exams your doctor orders
• Cochlear implants, when medically necessary
• Hearing benefits in 96% of Medicare Advantage plans in our 2026 analysis (vary by plan)

What Medicare covers for hearing — the medical side

The Medicare law has said “no hearing aids” since 1965. But Medicare does cover the medical care around hearing loss. It pays to find out what’s wrong. And when hearing aids can’t fix the problem, it pays for surgery that can.

Step one: the diagnostic exam (Part B)

Hearing loss starts as a medical question. Did it come on suddenly? Did it build up over years? Did it come with dizziness or ringing in your ears? The first step is a hearing and balance exam to find out what’s wrong — your doctor may call it a “diagnostic exam.” Part B covers this exam when your doctor orders it. After you meet your Part B deductible, you pay 20% of the amount Medicare approves. The hospital may add a copay if the test happens in an outpatient department.

You can also see an audiologist — a hearing specialist — once every 12 months without an order. This is for slow hearing loss that builds over years, or for tests tied to an implanted hearing device. The line to remember: Medicare pays to find a hearing problem. It never pays for an exam to fit a hearing aid.

If hearing aids can’t help: cochlear implants

Sometimes hearing aids can’t help enough. If tests show moderate-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss in both ears — hearing loss caused by inner-ear damage — that hearing aids don’t improve enough, Medicare covers a cochlear implant. That’s a small device a surgeon places in the ear. Medicare counts it as a prosthetic device (a replacement body part), not a hearing aid. So the “no hearing aids” rule doesn’t apply. Your doctor and audiologist decide whether your test results qualify you.

Getting hearing aids: what your options are

Original Medicare won’t pay for the aids themselves — but that doesn’t mean paying list price out of pocket. Here’s what actually gives you access, what you can get, and what’s usually included.

Hearing benefits in Medicare Advantage plans

In The Pocket Protector’s analysis of CMS plan filings, 96% of the 4,456 Medicare Advantage plans in our 2026 analysis include a hearing-aid benefit. And 98% cover routine hearing exams. The benefit comes in two main shapes:

• Fixed copays per aid (about half of plans with the benefit) — you pay a set price for each hearing aid, and the plan pays the rest. The price usually depends on the technology level. Most plans have you buy through their hearing network.
• A dollar allowance (about a third) — the plan puts a set amount toward hearing aids you choose. In 2026 filings, allowances typically run $550–$1,500, with a median of $1,000. About one in four of these allowances is higher — a few reach $5,000.
• Combinations and vendor programs make up the rest — a copay schedule plus an allowance, or a benefit run entirely through a hearing vendor.

Plans that use a hearing network usually include extras with the device. You often get the fitting and evaluation, follow-up adjustments for the first year, a supply of batteries, and a warranty for loss or damage. Most benefits reset each year. The most common filing covers up to two aids per year, one per ear. Others reset every two or three years. Every plan sets its own devices, brands, providers, and prices — and they can change each year. Confirm the details in the plan’s Evidence of Coverage (the plan’s official benefits booklet) before you enroll.

Compare Medicare Advantage plans in your area →

The kinds of hearing aids you can get

Whatever pays for them, the products are the same. Prescription hearing aids come in three basic styles, per the FDA:

• Behind-the-ear (BTE) — the electronics sit in a case behind your ear, including open-fit and the newer receiver-in-canal (RIC) designs. Fits the widest range of hearing loss, from mild to profound, and is the easiest to handle.
• In-the-ear (ITE) — fills the outer ear. Handles mild to severe loss, with larger controls that are easier to adjust.
• In-the-canal (ITC) and completely-in-canal (CIC) — the smallest and least visible, for mild to moderately severe loss. Tiny batteries and controls can be hard to manage if dexterity is a concern.

Day to day, the real differences across styles are the features. Some have rechargeable batteries. Some stream sound from your phone or TV (Bluetooth). Telecoils pick up sound in looped venues like theaters and places of worship, and directional microphones help in noisy rooms. Higher “technology tiers” mostly add more automatic adjustment. That is what a plan’s copay tiers are pricing.

Over-the-counter hearing aids — the lower-cost route

Since October 17, 2022, an FDA rule lets adults 18 and older buy hearing aids over the counter, in stores or online. No prescription, exam, or professional fitting is needed. They are for adults who feel their hearing loss is mild to moderate. You set them up and adjust them yourself, and they generally cost less than prescription devices.

Also check your Medicare Advantage plan before you pay cash: some plans now fold OTC hearing aids into their hearing benefit — more than 1,100 of the 2026 plans we analyzed cover OTC hearing aids. Some charge a set copay for an OTC device or kit. Some let you spend your allowance on OTC models. Others let you choose between OTC and prescription aids through the plan’s hearing vendor.

Two caveats: Original Medicare doesn’t pay for OTC hearing aids (the lower price is the whole point), and they’re not for severe or profound loss. If voices sound faint even up close, or your hearing changed suddenly, start with the diagnostic exam Part B covers — not a store shelf.

Other coverage worth checking

• Veterans: if you’re enrolled in VA health care, ask about VA audiology — the VA provides hearing aids to eligible veterans.
• Medicaid: coverage of hearing aids for adults varies by state — check your state’s program.
• Retiree or union coverage: some employer plans include a hearing benefit that works alongside Medicare.
• Medigap: no. Medigap pays your share of costs for services Original Medicare already covers — it doesn’t add benefits, so it doesn’t cover hearing aids.

About the “Medicare will cover hearing aids in 2026” claim

You may have read that Medicare hearing-aid coverage starts in 2026. That traces to a real bill. Here’s its verified status:

H.R. 500 — the Medicare Hearing Aid Coverage Act of 2025

• Its text would start coverage January 1, 2026 — only if it becomes law.
• As of August 4, 2026, it hasn’t passed. It hasn’t even had a committee vote.
• Earlier versions of the same bill (2017, 2021, and 2023) all died the same way.
• Nothing about Medicare’s hearing-aid coverage is scheduled to change — plan around the rules as they are today.

You can check the bill’s live status on congress.gov or GovTrack. If it ever passes, this page will say so the day we learn of it.

Sources

Every claim on this page has been verified against these sources and is current as of August 4, 2026. Coverage rules and bill status can change; this page is re-verified whenever they do.

• Medicare.gov — Hearing aid coverage (hearing aids and fitting exams are not covered)
• Medicare.gov — Hearing and balance exams (Part B diagnostic coverage, your 20% share, the once-per-12-months audiologist rule)
• CMS — National Coverage Determination 50.3, Cochlear Implantation (prosthetic-device coverage and medical criteria)
• The Pocket Protector — analysis of CMS 2026 Plan Benefit Package filings and plan Evidence of Coverage documents, all 4,456 Medicare Advantage plans in our 2026 analysis (the hearing-benefit statistics on this page: prevalence, benefit models, allowance ranges, replacement frequency, and OTC hearing-aid coverage)
• FDA — Types of hearing aids (the basic hearing aid styles and who each fits)
• FDA — OTC hearing aids: what you should know (the over-the-counter rule, who it’s for, and its limits)
• Medicare.gov — What Medigap covers (Medigap does not cover hearing aids)
• Congress.gov — H.R. 500, Medicare Hearing Aid Coverage Act of 2025 (bill text, sponsor, committee referrals, and current status)
• GovTrack — H.R. 500 tracking page (independent status tracking, including earlier versions of the bill)

Content on this page is educational, not medical or enrollment advice. Medicare Advantage hearing benefits are set by each plan and can change each year — always confirm a benefit in the plan’s own documents before enrolling.