II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2046 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide Medicare beneficiaries coordinated care and greater choice with regard to accessing 

hearing health services and benefits. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 26, 2014 

Mr. BROWN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide 

Medicare beneficiaries coordinated care and greater 

choice with regard to accessing hearing health services 

and benefits. 

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 ‘‘Access to Hearing 

5 Healthcare Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Approximately 36,000,000 Americans expe2 rience some degree of hearing loss and by 2030 that 

3 number is expected to increase to 78,000,000 Ameri4 cans. 

5 (2) Hearing impairment is one of the most 

6 common conditions affecting older adults, with ap7 proximately 33 percent of Americans aged 60 years 

8 and over and 40 to 50 percent of those aged 75 

9 years and older experiencing hearing loss. 

10 (3) The National Institute on Deafness and 

11 Other Communication Disorders estimates that ap12 proximately 15 percent (26 million) of Americans 

13 between the ages of 20 and 69 have high frequency 

14 hearing loss due to exposure to loud sounds or noise 

15 at work or in leisure activities. 

16 (4) Hearing loss is a major barrier to partici17 pating in society, both economically and socially. 

18 (5) Hearing loss among senior citizens, if left 

19 untreated, can result in isolation and depression. 

20 (6) The Department of Veterans Affairs allows 

21 veterans to directly access audiologists and has re22 ported that this policy, adopted in 1992, provides 

23 high-quality, efficient, and cost-effective hearing 

24 care. 


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1 (7) The Office of Personnel Management allows 

2 Federal employees and Members of Congress to di3 rectly access audiologists through the Federal Em4 ployees Health Benefits Program. 

5 (8) Audiologists are licensed in each State and 

6 the District of Columbia and the scope of services 

7 furnished by audiologists is determined by each ju8 risdiction involved. 

9 (9) Consistency in Federal policy with respect 

10 to hearing health services should be encouraged to 

11 the greatest extent possible. 

12 (10) Audiologists hold Master’s or Doctoral De13 grees in audiology, completing university training 

14 programs which provide for rigorous theoretical and 

15 clinical education on evaluation, diagnosis, and 

16 treatment. 

17 (11) As of January 1, 2010, audiologists are 

18 categorized under a unique broad occupation cat19 egory within the Standard Occupational Classifica20 tion (SOC) system to better reflect the diagnostic 

21 and treatment nature of the services they provide. 


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1 SEC. 3. ENABLING MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES TO HAVE 

2 THEIR CHOICE OF QUALIFIED HEARING 

3 HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS. 

4 Section 1861(ll)(3) of the Social Security Act (42 

5 U.S.C. 1395x(ll)(3)) is amended by inserting before the 

6 period at the end the following: ‘‘, without regard to any 

7 requirement that the individual receiving the audiology 

8 services be under the care of (or referred by) a physician 

9 or other health care practitioner or that such services are 

10 provided under the supervision of a physician or other 

11 health care practitioner’’. 

12 SEC. 4. INCLUSION OF AUDIOLOGY SERVICES AS MEDICAL 

13 SERVICES UNDER MEDICARE PART B; PAY14 MENT FOR SUCH SERVICES. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1861(s)(2) of the Social 

16 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(s)(2)) is amended— 

17 (1) in subparagraph (EE), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

18 the end; 

19 (2) in subparagraph (FF), by inserting ‘‘and’’ 

20 at the end; and 

21 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub22 paragraph: 

23 ‘‘(GG) audiology services (as defined in 

24 subsection (ll)(3));’’. 

25 (b) PAYMENT UNDER THE PHYSICIAN FEE SCHED26 ULE.—Section 1848(j)(3) of the Social Security Act (42 


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1 U.S.C. 1395w–4(j)(3)) is amended by inserting 

2 ‘‘(2)(GG),’’ before ‘‘(3)’’. 

3 SEC. 5. CONSTRUCTION; EFFECTIVE DATE. 

4 (a) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in the amendments 

5 made by this Act shall be construed to expand the scope 

6 of audiology services for which payment may be made 

7 under title XVIII of the Social Security Act on December 

8 31, 2013. 

9 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

10 this Act shall take effect with respect to services furnished 

11 on or after January 1, 2015. 

Æ 


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