aid. like eye appointments, audiological appointments are no longer covered through the provincial public health plan. audiometric testing can still easily be obtained, often free of charge, in private sector hearing aid clinics and some ear, nose and throat doctors offices. hearing aids may be covered to some extent by private insurance or in some cases through government programs such as veterans affairs canada or workplace safety & insurance board. iceland social insurance pays a one time fee of isk 30,000 for any kind of hearing aid. however, the rules are complicated and require that both ears have significant hearing loss in order to qualify for reimbursement. bte hearing aids range from isk 60,000 to isk 300,000. india in india hearing aids of all kinds are easily available. under central and state government health services, the poor can often avail themselves of free hearing devices. however, market prices vary for others and can range from rs 10,000 to rs 275,000 per ear. united kingdom from 2000 to 2005 the department of health worked with action on hearing loss (then called rnid) to improve the quality of nhs hearing aids so every nhs audiology department in england was fitting digital hearing aids by march 2005. by 2003 over 175,000 nhs digital hearing aids had been fitted to 125,000 people. private companies were recruited to enhance the capacity, and two were appointed – david ormerod hearing centres, partly owned by alliance boots and ultravox group, a subsidiary of amplifon. within the uk, the nhs provides digital bte hearing aids to nhs patients, on long-term loan, free of charge. other than bahas (bone anchored hearing aid) or cochlear implants, where specifically required, btes are usually the only style available. private purchases may be necessary if a user desires a different style. batteries are free. in 2014 the clinical commissioning group in north staffordshire considered proposals to end provision of free hearing aids for adults with mild to moderate age related hearing loss, which currently cost them £1.2m a year. action on hearing loss mobilised a campaign against the proposal. in june 2018 the national institute for health and care excellence produced new guidance saying that hearing aids should be offered at the first opportunity when hearing loss affects the individual's ability to hear and communicate, rather than waiting for arbitrary thresholds of hearing loss to be reached. united states most private healthcare providers in the united states do not provide coverage for hearing aids, so all costs are usually borne by the recipient. the cost for a single hearing aid can vary between $500 and $6,000 or more, depending on the level of technology and whether the clinician bundles fitting fees into the cost of the hearing aid. though if an adult has hearing loss which substantially limits major life activities, some state-run vocational rehabilitation programs can provide upwards of full financial assistance. severe and profound hearing loss often falls within the "substantially limiting" category. less expensive hearing aids can be found on the internet or mail order catalogs, but most in the under-$200 range tend to amplify the low frequencies of background noise, making it harder to hear the human voice. military veterans receiving va medical care are eligible for hearing aids based on medical need. the veterans administration pays the full cost of testing and hearing aids to qualified military veterans. major va medical facilities provide complete diagnostic and audiology services. the cost of hearing aids is a tax-deductible medical expense for those who itemize medical deductions. research involving more than 40,000 us households showed a convincing correlation between the degree of hearing loss and the reduction of personal income. according to the same research, hearing aids were shown to mitigate the impact of income loss by 90%–100% for those with milder hearing losses and from 65%–77% for those with severe to moderate hearing loss. batteries while there are some instances that a hearing aid uses a rechargeable battery or a long-life disposable battery, the majority of modern hearing aids use one of five standard button cell zinc–air batteries. (older hearing aids often used mercury battery cells, but these cells have become banned in most countries today.) modern hearing aid button cell types are typically referred to by their common number name or the color of their packaging. they are typically loaded into the hearing aid via a rotating battery door, with the flat side (case) as the positive terminal (cathode) and the rounded side as the negative terminal (anode). these batteries all operate from 1.35 to 1.45 volts. the type of battery a specific hearing aid utilizes depends on the physical size allowable and the desired lifetime of the battery, which is in turn determined by the power draw of the hearing aid device. typical battery lifetimes run between 1 and 14 days (assuming 16-hour days). hearing aid battery types type/ color code dimensions (diameter×height) common uses standard names misc names 67511.6 mm × 5.4 mmhigh-power btes, cochlear implantsiec: pr44, ansi: 7003zd675, 675a, 675ae, 675ap, 675ca, 675cp, 675hp, 675hpx, 675 implant plus, 675p (hp), 675pa, 675sa, 675sp, a675, a675p, ac675, ac675e, ac675e/ez, ac675ez, ac-675e, ap675, b675pa, b6754, b900pa, c675, da675, da675h, da675h/n, da675n, da675x, h675ae, l675za, me9z, p675, p675i+, pr44, pr44p, pr675, pr675h, pr675p, pr-675pa, pz675, pza675, r675za, s675a, v675, v675a, v675at, vt675, xl675, z675px, za675, za675hp 137.9 mm × 5.4 mmbtes, itesiec: pr48, ansi: 7000zd13, 13a, 13ae, 13ap, 13hp, 13hpx, 13p, 13pa, 13sa, 13za, a13, ac13, ac13e, ac13e/ez, ac13ez, ac-13e, ap13, b13ba, b0134, b26pa, cp48, da13, da13h, da13h/n, da13n, da13x, e13e, l13za, me8z, p13, pr13, pr13h, pr-13pa, pz13, pza13, r13za, s13a, v13a, vt13, v13at, w13za, xl13, za13 3127.9 mm × 3.6 mmminibtes, rics, itcsiec: pr41, ansi: 7002zd312, 312a, 312ae, 312ap, 312hp, 312hpx, 312p, 312pa, 312sa, 312za, ac312, ac312e, ac312e/ez, ac312ez, ac-312e, ap312, b312ba, b3124, b347pa, cp41, da312, da312h, da312h/n, da312n, da312x, e312e, h312ae, l312za, me7z, p312, pr312, pr312h, pr-312pa, pz312, pza312, r312za, s312a, v312a, v312at, vt312, w312za, xl312, za312 105.8 mm × 3.6 mmcics, ricsiec: pr70, ansi: 7005zd10, 10a, 10ae, 10ap, 10ds, 10hp, 10hpx, 10sa, 10up, 20pa, 230, 230e, 230ez, 230hpx, ac10, ac10ez, ac10/230, ac10/230e, ac10/230ez, ac230, ac230e, ac230e/ez, ac230ez, ac-230e, ap10, b0104, b20ba, b20pa, cp35, da10, da10h, da10h/n, da10n, da230, da230/10, l10za, me10z, p10, pr10, pr10h, pr230h, pr536, pr-10pa, pr-230pa, pza230, r10za, s10a, v10, vt10, v10at, v10hp, v230at, w10za, xl10, za10 55.8 mm × 2.1 mmcicsiec: pr63, ansi: 7012zd5a, 5ae, 5hpx, 5sa, ac5, ac5e, ap5, b7pa, cp63, cp521, l5za, me5z, p5, pr5h, pr-5pa, pr521, r5za, s5a, v5at, vt5, xl5, za5