Jordan, thanks for reading the CU report. Just wanted to add a couple of hopefully clarifying comments that seem appropriate based on your observations of the CU article.
According to the Hearing Aid Buying Guide section of that CU report it indicates that it was “Updated April 24, 2023.”
Also, the following clip from that Buying Guide seems to indicate that the satisfaction responses from the 26,788 Consumer Reports members who responded to the survey did include all types of hearing aid providers not just mass marketers with Costco being rated with the highest level of satisfaction.
“On the other hand, overall satisfaction was lowest with name-brand hearing aid stores. Various types of clinics—hospitals or clinics, ear nose, and throat (ENT) or otolaryngologist clinics, primary care or other medical doctors’ offices, and freestanding offices or stores—scored higher than name-brand hearing aid stores but lower than the VA or wholesale clubs.”