[technofiend]

Hello fellow hearing-challenged person.

First let me say I purchased OTC hearing aids for $799 (Jabra Enhance) out of frustration and the particular ones I use are adequate at best. They tune to your hearing loss via a crude test which only has three frequency ranges categorized as high, medium and low frequency bands. They additionally have three modes that change the mix of in room sound to help to adapt to different listening situations.

The biggest frustration with them is they aren't particularly discrete around amplification or rejection of sound: want to hear someone speaking? You're going to get lots of room noise too because of the wide bands which just amplify everything rather than say just speech and/or where your specific hearing loss is deepest.

In fact even though my insurance does cover hearing aids, it's through a certain discount supplier, and their offerings strike me as lower-end. As you've discovered the most expensive options are eye-poppingly expensive, but they are also have the most features. For example I was quoted between $5k and 7.5k for the best performing hearing aid. And here's the frustrating bit: for that difference in price it's the same fucking hearing aid, just with features unlocked! The audiologist told me the real difference in price is mostly more discrete bands. lol. From memory it tops out at twenty four bands.

I'm currently debating between going to Costco and using my insurance with Amplifon. I suggest you investigate both as Costco's hearing aids get decent reviews. Also apparently the prices vary by state, but here in Texas the cheapest ones are $1,499; less than half the price you quoted.

Good luck!