@castaway
I’m just curious as to where you are located.
I’ll admit, and 2nd the opinion of Chuck, that you do have to be stubborn, and persistent, but it sounds like you are in VA Hell!
Here in Southern CA, I went to the VA Hospital in Long Beach, back in 2013, and although jumping thru some hoops is necessary, I had my 1st pair of aids in 2 months.
The most difficult part of the process was getting a Premium VA on-line account, but it was not required for the Hearing Aids.
I am in New Mexico. Whatever system or process you could name, is bound to be worse here than anywhere else. ie. Need a critical surgical procedure? If at all possible, you fly over to the Mayo Clinic in Arizona and have it done there. The bureaucracy? Well, I can’t speak to it on this forum. Point is…how far will you go to avoid having to spend five grand? At 75 I am still a full-time working professional artist. If the art world ever resumes, whatever time remains to me would be better spent making a painting that would pay for my aids rather than spending my life on endless phone calls and driving all over the state chasing wild gooses. I do find it amusing though that every place I go and on every phone call, somebody thanks me for my service. 
BTW…I’ve decided to pull the plug on the Paradise P90’s
A final comment after 5 days with my new P90’s: Was it pointless to worry over this issue? No. Having these objects riding over top of my Pinna is definitely something I am aware of. I find myself fidgeting with them a lot - making sure the receiver is still well-positioned in my canal - making sure the shells are where they are supposed to be, and not dangling over top of my ear. Are they entwined with my long hair? Yes, the same hair that constantly makes rustling sounds in my ear as it bounces and swishes around against the mics. And sometimes I just have to reach up and touch them just to be sure they are still there. And then there is the mask-wearing. OH! the mask wearing! Everyone knows about that. I’m just trying to think of it as a temporary situation - not a permanent “feature.” Are they as undetectable and hassle-free as my old Eargos? Absolutely not. There is a freedom to in-the-canal devices that you just can’t beat.
Do I regret choosing this form? Well, I’m pretty impressed with the sound quality and the implementation of the AutoSense feature. Most of the time I’m not even aware of, or thinking about the fact I am impaired. Connectivity is nice (when it works). And I haven’t yet really even explored all the possibilities and adjustments that these little power-houses promise - especially when I get enough knowledge and experience to begin my own adjustments in Target.So no…I have no regrets. It’s really a case of nothing being perfect. There’s always a trade-off somewhere - and I think the trade-off here is having a little physical hassle while getting some really stunning improvements in my hearing in trade.
I prefer to have my glasses sidearms outside the HA wire but inside the HA body.
ie : I put my HA’s in then put on my glasses ensuring that the side arms trap the HA wire against my head. The body of the HA then finished up against my ear with the wire now over the sidearm. This makes it more difficult to lose an HA because the body can’t easily slip under.
It does make wearing an ear loop covid mask more awkward so I have converted my washable masks to loop behind my neck by sewing velcro to the elastic loops
I used ziphearing for my last Oticon OPN S1s. Loved it. I had to swap out the one’s with rechargeable batteries for ones with replaceable batteries over an ergonomic issue, not anything wrong with the units. The turnaround time was negligible, and I had my old aids to hold me over the day or two it took. Aids are generally shipped, or were, overnight or 2nd day air.