2 senators want the FDA to relax hearing aid rules

Driving the news: Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) introduced legislation Friday to order a timetable for a final rule.

• The agency last October began outlining technical requirements for OTC hearing aids but it offers no timeline for when consumers could see them hit the market. 

Context: Congress asked the agency in 2017 to explore broadened access by August 2020, but the agency missed the deadline due to the pandemic.

• Hearing aids cost thousands of dollars. Insurance coverage is limited and Medicare won't cover them. The stigma of hearing loss has also prevented millions from using them.
• Congressional Democrats proposed expanding Medicare coverage to hearing services at a cost of $35 billion over a decade as part of the sweeping social spending bill that stalled in the Senate.