I would question why this audiologist wants to change from Rexton to Oticon ?
If she is comfortable with the Rexton maybe the only thing she needs a an aid that is just more powerful than what she has.
In my opinion, different name brands of aids sound different to many people. It may be important to her to stick with the brand where is comfortable with the sound quality. She just needs it to be louder. Does this Audiologist offer different brands or just Oticon ?
If this audiologist sells different brands, maybe she could trial different ones.
to see which one she likes better.
The Oticon Exceeds are the newest hearing aid manufactured by Oticon, hence the higher cost.
In my opinion, I think this is overkill for her.
My hearing loss is slightly worst than hers in that ear and I wear Oticon Dynamo. It is a powerful hearing aid with a size 13 battery ( smaller than the 312 ).
This is an older make from Oticon, but powerful and probably at half the cost.
There are a lot of people here that go to Costco.
Apparently they sell hearing aids at a greatly reduced cost, so this may be an option for her.
Good Luck in your search.
Laura