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Jim Cramer told CNBC viewers on Sept. 3, 2026, that Costco may no longer deserve its longstanding reputation as the best value in American retail.
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He pointed to dollar-store chains as the possible new leader on price for cost-conscious shoppers, telling viewers he was “just wondering whether the great value isn’t in these dollar stores.”
Five days later, consumer advocate and money expert Clark Howard delivered the opposite message to his retirement-focused audience, pointing them directly back to Costco.
Howard zeroed in on one product category where the savings gap between the warehouse club and traditional retailers runs into thousands of dollars.
Cramer’s read would make the $65 annual fee a wasted line-item that retirees keep renewing out of habit. Yet Howard’s read makes walking away from Costco a single-transaction mistake that erases more savings than most households set aside in several months.
Costco hearing aids cost thousands less than private audiologists charge
Howard’s case centers on hearing aids, and the pricing data from a recent industry survey supports his argument with hard numbers.
Patients who pay out of pocket and are fitted by a licensed audiologist spend $4,110 on average for a pair of hearing aids, according to HearingTracker’s 2026 hearing aid cost survey.
Dr. Abram Bailey, CEO of Hearing Tracker, has explained the size of the pricing gap between the warehouse channel and private clinics.
Costco offers advanced hearing aids, often (but not always) the latest generation technology, for substantially less than other prescription hearing aid retailers. On average, customers saved 65% on brands from leading manufacturers like Sonova, GN, and WSA.
Costco sells hearing aids from four major manufacturers at an average of $1,674 for a pair in that same survey. Individual brand averages at Costco fall between $1,442 and $1,700, far below the $3,500 to $4,500 range at traditional clinics.
That gap of roughly $2,400 on a single purchase is large enough to cover the $65 Gold Star fee for more than 36 years.
Howard has recommended Costco’s hearing center on his consumer show for more than a decade, telling his retirement-focused audience that the warehouse channel matches clinical outcomes at the audiologist’s office.
“You’re not going to get a worse hearing aid” for choosing the lower-cost option, Howard said.
Medicare has excluded hearing aid coverage since the program began
The savings matter more because Original Medicare provides zero relief on hearing aids, leaving the entire cost to the retiree.
Federal law has barred hearing aids from both Medicare Part A and Part B coverage since the program launched in 1965.
No legislation has changed that exclusion through 2026, and Medigap supplement plans follow the same limitation, according to the Center for Medicare Advocacy.
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Many Medicare Advantage plans advertise hearing benefits, but the typical structure involves a fixed allowance that covers only part of the full price.
Allowances generally range from $500 to $3,000, depending on the plan and region, which still leaves high out-of-pocket costs for most retirees, Benefit USA confirmed.
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A retiree whose plan contributes $1,500 toward that average-priced pair from a private audiologist still owes $2,610 after the allowance is applied.
That same retiree buying the average-priced pair at Costco with the same $1,500 allowance would owe roughly $174.
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Costco’s renewal rate and fee growth undercut Cramer’s thesis
Cramer said on CNBC he was beginning to wonder whether this is the Costco of old, but the company’s most recent quarterly results contradict him.
Costco’s worldwide renewal rate held at 89.7% in the third quarter of fiscal 2026, the company reported.
Membership fee income reached $1.37 billion for the quarter, climbing roughly 11% compared to the same period a year earlier.
Net sales rose 11.6% to $69.15 billion, and executive-tier members now generate about 75% of net sales, Zacks reported.
The $3,250 threshold that decides your Costco membership tier
The membership question for retirees comes down to arithmetic, and the answer depends on annual spending at the warehouse.
Costco’s Executive tier costs $130 and returns 2% on most qualifying purchases, while the Gold Star tier costs $65 with no rebate.
The gap between the two tiers is $65, so the upgrade pays for itself only after the 2% rebate offsets that premium.
“To earn that back through the Executive 2% reward, a member needs to spend $3,250 a year, or about $271 a month,” Kristen Markel, who runs the blog Warehouse Wanderer, wrote, as reported by U.S. News.
“If you spend more than that, Costco is essentially paying you to hold the premium membership,” she said.
What Costco’s hearing aid gap means for your next renewal
Customer satisfaction at Costco closely tracks other purchasing channels in Bailey’s survey, with 79% of Costco buyers reporting satisfaction, in line with the 77% to 89% satisfaction rates across all other channels, though over-the-counter buyers reported lower satisfaction at 53%.
The National Council on Aging has flagged unaddressed hearing loss as one of the largest uncovered healthcare costs facing Americans over age 65, given Original Medicare’s statutory exclusion of hearing aids.
The renewal decision splits along spending lines. By Markel’s math, retirees spending below that $3,250 threshold are paying for a rebate they will never earn.
Dropping to the $65 Gold Star tier costs nothing in access to the hearing center, where HearingTracker’s 2026 survey documents a roughly $2,400 out-of-pocket gap versus audiology clinics.
Canceling the save $65 membership to save money backfires the moment you need hearing aids.
Related: A Medicare surcharge that could quietly cost retirees thousands
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This story was originally published September 13, 2026 at 3:03 AM.