Quoting from my post on that subject:

"In 2017, Congress passed the Over-the-Counter (OTC) Hearing Aid Act. That told the FDA to prepare safety and labeling rules so that hearing aids could be sold to people without an audiologist’s exam. These aids are designed for people with mild to moderate hearing loss and will be far less expensive than current devices. Four years later, the FDA hasn’t created those rules yet."

Obviously political pressure has delayed that again and again.

But some states have already done this. You can buy inexpensive hearing aids as of May 2021 in Massachusetts, Montana, North and South Carolina, and Texas. For example, Bose is selling a pair of these for $849.00 —not each, that's for a pair. That is less than half the cost of most hearing aids!