Eargo’s chief executive, Christian Gormsen, argues that this makes more sense than the current model he describes as “archaic,” where dispensers are licensed by state-level boards and can only operate within their state. “I believe in a professional that’s certified. I don’t care whether that person is certified in California or Colorado … It’s like saying you can’t drive your car outside the state where you got your driver’s license. It doesn’t make any sense.”

However, going around your doctor presents the problem of financing. Insurance companies rarely pay for hearing aids to begin with, but even at a comparatively low price, around $2,00 0 is not always an easy chunk of change to drop. Especially for seniors who may be on a fixed income, or patients who rely on their employer-provided Medicare, Medicaid or disability insurance to cover medical expenses. Like most hearing aids, you can ask your insurance providers if you can get reimbursed for a pair of Eargo hearing aids, but it’s unlikely to be covered. The expense will have to come out of your own pocket.

To help ease the burden, Eargo partners with both CareCredit and Synchrony to offer financing deals, often without interest if you pay it off over a relatively short time frame. In a 24-month financing deal, for example, the Eargo Max would cost a little over $100 a month, which is easier to stomach than the lump sum all at once. It’s still a lot of money, and you don’t get assistance paying for it, but financing options at least mean it doesn’t hit quite as hard.

For severe hearing loss, Mr. Gormsen believes specialists will always have their place. “If we suspect there is too much hearing loss … we will always advise them to contact a specialist.” However, millions live with such minor to moderate hearing loss that it goes untreated — and uncovered by your insurance — until it gets worse. “The fundamental challenge of this industry is the stigma and if we stay medical I think our likelihood of impacting that stigma is going to be tough,” Mr. Gormsen said.

For most customers, Eargo eventually envisions that shopping for a hearing aid would look more like buying a phone than the more rigorous (but also time consuming) search for a medical device. “We’ve been talking to the likes of Best Buy or so on where maybe you go and talk to a blue shirt and then a blue shirt could show you how the product works. And we could train them.”

Family planning as proactive rather than reactive

Modern Fertility is another company aiming to fill in a crack in our modern health care system. For $159, the company offers a fertility test that can help women who are trying to get pregnant — or may want to in the future — find out more about their fertility and plan ahead. It sounds like exactly the kind of basic test you could ask your OB-GYN for.