I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8064 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage 

under the Medicare program of hearing aids and related hearing services. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 18, 2024 

Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Mr. LAWLER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. DEAN of 

Pennsylvania, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. TAKANO, and Mr. 

THOMPSON of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to 

the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide 

for coverage under the Medicare program of hearing 

aids and related hearing services. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Help Extend Auditory 

5 Relief Act of 2024’’ or the ‘‘HEAR Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MEDICARE COVERAGE OF HEARING REHABILITA2 TION. 

3 (a) COVERAGE OF AURAL REHABILITATION SERV4 ICES.—Section 1861(s)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 

5 U.S.C. 1395x(s)(2)) is amended— 

6 (1) in subparagraph (JJ) by adding ‘‘and’’ at 

7 the end; and 

8 (2) by adding at the end the following new sub9 paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(KK) aural rehabilitation services (as de11 scribed in subsection (nnn)(1)(A));’’. 

12 (b) COVERAGE OF HEARING AIDS AS DURABLE MED13 ICAL EQUIPMENT.—Section 1861(s)(8) of the Social Secu14 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(s)(8)) is amended by inserting 

15 ‘‘and hearing aids (as defined in subsection (nnn)(3))’’ be16 fore the period. 

17 (c) HEARING REHABILITATION AND HEARING AID

18 DEFINED.—Section 1861 of the Social Security Act (42 

19 U.S.C. 1395x) is amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing new subsection: 

21 ‘‘Hearing Rehabilitation 

22 ‘‘(nnn)(1) The term ‘hearing rehabilitation’ means— 

23 ‘‘(A) aural rehabilitation services (described in 

24 paragraph (2)) which meet such requirements as the 

25 Secretary prescribes and which are furnished by a 

26 physician or qualified audiologist, who is legally auVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:28 May 02, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8064.IH H8064

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1 thorized to furnish such services under the State law 

2 (or the State regulatory mechanism provided by 

3 State law) of the State in which the services are fur4 nished; and 

5 ‘‘(B) hearing aids (as defined in paragraph 

6 (3)). 

7 ‘‘(2) The services described in this subparagraph in8 clude— 

9 ‘‘(A) aural rehabilitation services; 

10 ‘‘(B) in the case of an individual who has a 

11 hearing loss (as defined by the Secretary), a com12 prehensive audiologic assessment to determine if a 

13 hearing aid is appropriate and to determine the need 

14 for other diagnostic medical or audiologic testing; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(C) a threshold test to determine audio acuity. 

17 ‘‘(3)(A) The term ‘hearing aid’ means a hearing aid 

18 described in subparagraph (B), including the services de19 scribed in subparagraph (C) furnished by a physician or 

20 qualified audiologist, who is legally authorized to supply 

21 such hearing aid under the State law (or State regulatory 

22 mechanism provided by State law) of the State in which 

23 the hearing aid is supplied, to an individual described in 

24 subparagraph (D). 


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1 ‘‘(B) A hearing aid described in this subparagraph 

2 is any wearable instrument or device for, offered for the 

3 purpose of, or represented as aiding individuals with, or 

4 compensating for, hearing loss that meets requirements of 

5 the Food and Drug Administration for marketing, but 

6 does not include an over-the-counter hearing aid (as de7 fined in section 520(q)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and 

8 Cosmetic Act). 

9 ‘‘(C) The services described in this subparagraph in10 clude— 

11 ‘‘(i) audiology services (as defined in subsection 

12 (ll)(2)); 

13 ‘‘(ii) a hearing aid assessment to determine the 

14 appropriate hearing aid for the individual; 

15 ‘‘(iii) procurement of an appropriate hearing 

16 aid; 

17 ‘‘(iv) initial fitting and adjustment of the hear18 ing aid; 

19 ‘‘(v) appropriate instruction on the use of the 

20 hearing aid; 

21 ‘‘(vi) periodic refittings and adjustments; and 

22 ‘‘(vii) rehabilitation, including counseling on 

23 hearing loss, speech reading, and auditory training. 

24 ‘‘(D) The individuals described in this subpara25 graph— 


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1 ‘‘(i) have been determined (as a result of a com2 prehensive audiologic assessment) to have a hearing 

3 loss which can be appropriately treated with a hear4 ing aid; 

5 ‘‘(ii) have not been supplied with one monaural 

6 hearing aid or two binaural hearing aids during the 

7 preceding 3 years; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) have had a comprehensive audiologic as9 sessment which indicates that the hearing of such 

10 individual has deteriorated since such individual was 

11 last supplied with a hearing aid such that a hearing 

12 aid of a different type is appropriate for such indi13 vidual.’’. 

14 (d) INCLUSION OF AUDIOLOGY REHABILITATION

15 SERVICES.—Section 1861(ll)(2) of the Social Security Act 

16 (42 U.S.C. 1395x(ll)(2)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and re17 habilitation’’ after ‘‘balance assessment’’. 

18 (e) EXCEPTION TO EXCLUSIONS FROM COVERAGE.— 

19 Section 1862(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 

20 1395y(a)) is amended— 

21 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

22 (A) in subparagraph (O), by striking 

23 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

24 (B) in subparagraph (P); by striking the 

25 semicolon at the end and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and 


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1 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

2 subparagraph: 

3 ‘‘(Q) in the case of hearing rehabilitation, which 

4 is furnished or supplied more frequently than is pro5 vided under section 1861(nnn)(3)(D)(ii).’’; and 

6 (2) in paragraph (7) by striking ‘‘hearing aids 

7 or examinations therefor’’. 

8 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

9 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

10 of this Act, and shall apply to items and services furnished 

11 on or after a date specified by the Secretary of Health 

12 and Human Services that is not sooner than January 1 

13 of the first year beginning after such date of enactment 

14 and not later than January 1 of the third year beginning 

15 after such date of enactment. 

Æ 


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