Go to a professional first, whose interest is in your welfare, not just your wallet. Your first test was the comprehensive one. Did they give you the report for other professionals to evaluate? Your audiology (nurse?)(certified?) person might have been right -- at this point in your life, that is.
The owner of your hearing shop was also probably right. That was just a preliminary evaluation, not an analytical one. You might have to pay a fee for another comprehensive one, as I did. Glad I got one -- but not connected with a brand.
Thanks. I just don’t know who to believe, as I said. The owner of the shop explained how these devices work, they are quite sophisticated and finely computer tunable, something I hadn’t realized. But they are very expensive and require frequent care and tuning, none of it free, I assume, and too much bother, commitment like teeth cleaning and eye exams. The comprehensive test the man offered would be free as well, the payoff for him would come from the cost of the hearing aid and its maintenance. As for the HMO, I don’t know if the nurse there was protecting the organization and its finances by sending me on my way, but I’m pretty sure that hearing aids there wouldn’t come at much of a discount if any. For now, I’ll wait and keep asking people I don’t understand to repeat.