How do the hearing aids, of the last year or two, work against the more expensive hearing aids.
Lots of changes in the last year or so, it seems.

If anything hearing aids are getting more expensive. Mine were close to 6 grand. Sure you can get the el cheapo ones that do not more than amplify sound but good hearing aids do a lot more than that, they can allow you to hear a conversation in a crowded room where the cheapos will just let you hear a lot of noise. Mine are also to help with tinnitus, they play un synchronize chimes very lowly to help combat hearing the ringing or hissing of tinnitus. When it comes to hearing aids, you get what you pay for has meaning.

OT, do those really help with Tinnitus? I've had it for years and it's just getting worse. Getting so bad I can't get to sleep till I'm so whooped I pass out. Then it wakes me up after a few hours. At our age, too little sleep can be deadly as you well know.

My trick is background noise, i either put some music on or leave the TV on with the volume turned up (Fox news) just enough to cancel the tinnitus. Took me awhile to get used to it, but it works like a charm now.

My hearing is bad but I still manage. I read lips.

I've always been hesitant to get hearing aids. I figure they are likely to be a waste of money for me (even though the VA or my health insurance will pay for them). My ear canals are really sensitive. Seriously I can't put anything in there that doesn't cause pain or discomfort.

Super, I think they really help, especially when it is really quiet. The idea is the chimes fool your mind into not hearing the ringing or hissing and you really only hear them when it is very quite. I had to do something the hissing was driving me nuts. Funny thing about my tinnitus, it stops just before I fall asleep and when I wake up it is gone until I get up and start moving around. It also stops after my evening toddy for about 2 hours.

I just got hearing aids this summer. It took quite a while and patience for myself and the audiologists. She was very good and understood all of my complaints and adjusted the aids to my hearing needs. They are Unitron brand and were not that expensive, somewhere around $3500 for both. A friend has some that run $8k per ear. They work for me.