@asg002 : My hubby deals with Sams Pearland but no insurance. The places that have insurance don't really cover that much. For hubby it was like 500 - 700 dollars. Not worth it to him because if you have a problem with the hearing aid, it can be fixed on the spot at Sams. Where these other companies send them away and it takes 2 weeks or more to get them back. You can go anywhere for a hearing test at no charge

@Megyn1 : very helpful info, thanks so much! yeah, we're trying to avoid having to drive the relative so far from pearland on weekdays since i have heard that there would probably be multiple appts., esp. in the beginning, and there might be a need to adjust the aids frequently, etc.

Dr. Moses at the Center for ENT is excellent, but he's in Houston.

@Musicmaker : thank you for the rec.

Although insurance doesn't cover them, my parents got theirs from Costco . The hearing test is free. Only catch is you need to be a member.
I found it to be much cheaper without insurance then going through insurance with an audiologist, and the hearing aids are as superb in quality.