Will Medicare Cover Hearing Aids in 2026?

What Original Medicare pays for hearing aids this year

Medicare.gov states the rule in one line: Medicare doesn't cover hearing aids or exams for fitting hearing aids. The same page marks the service Not Covered and says you pay all costs for non-covered services.

The exclusion has two parts, and both matter for your bill:

• The device. Parts A and B pay nothing toward the hearing aid itself, whether you buy it over the counter or through a clinic.
• The fitting exam. The visit where a hearing aid is selected and fitted is excluded too. A hearing exam ordered for a medical reason falls under different Part B rules; see Medicare hearing aid coverage for that line.

Nothing on the Medicare.gov page ties the exclusion to a date that ends this year. A change would need a new law, and the next two sections show where the two House bills stand.

Where H.R. 500 stands on Congress.gov

H.R. 500 is the Medicare Hearing Aid Coverage Act, the bill named in the Hearing Loss Association of America action alert that ranks near the top of this search. Its record on Congress.gov reads:

• Status: Introduced.
• Latest action: referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means.

That referral happened on the day the bill was introduced. The tracker shows no committee vote, no House vote and no Senate action after it. A bill at this stage has no legal effect: it does not add a benefit, a payment amount or an enrollment step for anyone on Medicare.

Where H.R. 6218 stands on Congress.gov

H.R. 6218, the HEAR Act, is a second House bill on hearing coverage in the current Congress. Its record matches the first one:

• Status: Introduced.
• Latest action: referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means.

As with H.R. 500, the referral came on the day of introduction, and the tracker lists no later step. Two bills at the same early stage do not add up to a law. Each one would still need committee action, a vote in each chamber and the President's signature before Medicare could pay a claim under it.

A date written in a bill is not a benefit

Search results and advocacy alerts often repeat the start date written into a bill. That date is conditional. It applies only if the bill becomes law, and only on the terms of the final text, which can change in committee or on the floor.

Read a bill's status in this order before you plan a purchase around it:

1. Status line. On Congress.gov, Introduced is the first stage; Became Law is the last.
2. Latest action. A referral to committee means the bill is waiting for the committee to act.
3. Effective date in the enacted text. Only a law sets a date when Medicare starts paying.

Bills that are not enacted before a Congress ends do not carry over; a sponsor has to introduce them again. Until the status changes, the Medicare.gov rule above is the one that applies to your claim.

Medicare Advantage extras are not a change to Original Medicare

Medicare.gov adds a second line on the same page: some Medicare Advantage Plans (Part C) offer extra benefits that Original Medicare doesn't cover, like vision, hearing or dental, and it tells you to contact the plan for details.

Those extras are set plan by plan. They are not a new federal benefit, and they do not reach people who keep Original Medicare. A plan's hearing benefit can come with a copay, a dollar limit on what the plan pays, a network of providers and a period that resets. Our Medicare Advantage hearing aid coverage page compares those limits across plans by state, for information only.

This page does not recommend a plan. To check a specific plan's hearing terms, read its Evidence of Coverage or ask the plan directly.

Paying for hearing aids while the bills wait

With Original Medicare paying nothing toward the device, other routes carry the cost this year:

• Veterans: the VA provides hearing aids to enrolled veterans who meet its care conditions; see VA hearing aids.
• Medicaid: some states pay for adult hearing aids; see Medicaid hearing aid coverage.
• Charities and state programs: income limits and fees differ by program; see free hearing aids.

The table above shows each bill's status line and latest action as read on Congress.gov; the read date sits with each source.