About 20 percent of Americans, 48 million, report some degree of hearing loss.

• 60 percent of the people with hearing loss are either in the work force or in educational settings.
• While people in the workplace with the mildest hearing losses show little or no drop in income compared to their normal hearing peers, as the hearing loss increases, so does the reduction in compensation.
• Hearing loss is a major public health issue that is the third most common physical condition after arthritis and heart disease.