Plans for open-source hearing aids have also been developed and released, like happened on HN a few years ago (amazing work by the gentleman @zdw) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20604566. So, I think like someone else said, this is gov't catching up to the fact that market alternatives exist and are undercutting an industry that has celebrated regulatory shielding for a long time. Really, the hardware is less complex as time goes on, right? It makes sense that low-cost alternatives will bring quality up for consumers and prices down for consumers. Question, Hearing aids are considered medical gear and therefore the regulation?