Response to nla4625: In short, Look Before You Leap! FWIW, if you have Part F supplemental coverage instead of an advantage plan, visits to an audi or hearing center are covered 100% as a medical expense. (Just another reason to opt for the higher expense of Part F!)

I never felt I was being pushed in any way by the fitter at Costco. She wouldn't let me just buy the aid I purchased a couple of years ago (to combat age-related deafness in my "good" left ear...she insisted on fitting the aid and had me walk around in the store for at least a half hour to ensure that it would help. I then paid for the aid, but it had a 100% return for 30 days; I could have returned it for all that it had cost, no questions asked. Even though the two-year warranty had expired, she fitted me with a larger ear piece that delivers more sound directly to my ear, at zero expense. Regardless of where you buy, Costco is THE place to buy batteries: $8.99 for six packs of eight, which is almost a full year's supply. Pharmacies charge that much or more for a single 6-pack.

In contrast, the one audi at the hearing center just stated flatly that my Costco aid is junk and I absolutely needed to pony up thousands for a pair of "better" aids--in spite of the fact that I've been told for decades that my right ear isn't aidable due to recruitment. This was at the same appt. where she recommended that I return in six months for an additional hearing test (at the expense of my ins.) because she was certain that I'd qualify for a CI...making one of the two very expensive aids redundant. I was very disappointed by the entire hearing clinic experience. I had gone there, thinking that they'd know far more than the lady at Costco...but I was wrong.