I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2140 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 3, 2011 

Mr. ROSS of Arkansas (for himself, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. LATHAM, Mr. 

QUIGLEY, Mr. HIMES, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. TSONGAS, 

Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. BARROW, Mr. MCGOVERN, and Mr. CHANDLER) 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 

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 ‘‘Medicare Hearing 

5 Health Care Enhancement Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Approximately 30,000,000 Americans expe4 rience some degree of hearing loss and by 2030 that 

5 number is expected to increase to 78,000,000 Ameri6 cans. 

7 (2) Hearing impairment is one of the most 

8 common conditions affecting older adults, with ap9 proximately 33 percent of Americans aged 60 years 

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

11 years and older experiencing hearing loss. 

12 (3) Hearing loss is a major barrier to partici13 pating in society, both economically and socially. 

14 (4) Hearing loss among senior citizens, if left 

15 untreated, can result in isolation and depression. 

16 (5) The Department of Veterans Affairs allows 

17 veterans to directly access audiologists and has re18 ported that this policy, adopted in 1992, provides 

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

20 care. 

21 (6) The Office of Personnel Management allows 

22 Federal employees and Members of Congress to di23 rectly access audiologists through the Federal Em24 ployees Health Benefits Program. 

25 (7) Audiologists are licensed in each State and 

26 the District of Columbia and the scope of services 


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1 furnished by audiologists is determined by each ju2 risdiction involved. 

3 (8) Consistency in federal policy with respect to 

4 hearing health services should be encouraged to the 

5 greatest extent possible. 

6 (9) Audiologists hold Master’s or Doctoral De7 grees in audiology, completing university training 

8 programs which provide for rigorous theoretical and 

9 clinical education on evaluation, diagnosis, and 

10 treatment. 

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

12 categorized under a unique broad occupation cat13 egory within the Standard Occupational Classifica14 tion (SOC) system to better reflect the diagnostic 

15 and treatment nature of the services they provide. 

16 SEC. 3. ENABLING MEDICARE BENEFICIARIES TO HAVE 

17 THEIR CHOICE OF QUALIFIED HEARING 

18 HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS. 

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

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

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

22 requirement that the individual receiving the audiology 

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

24 or other health care practitioner or that such services are 


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1 provided under the supervision of a physician or other 

2 health care practitioner’’. 

3 SEC. 4. INCLUSION OF AUDIOLOGY SERVICES AS MEDICAL 

4 SERVICES UNDER MEDICARE PART B; PAY5 MENT FOR SUCH SERVICES. 

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

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

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

9 the end; 

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

11 at the end; and 

12 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub13 paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(GG) audiology services (as defined in sub15 section (ll)(3));’’. 

16 (b) PAYMENT UNDER THE PHYSICIAN FEE SCHED17 ULE.—Section 1848(j)(3) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w– 

18 4(j)(3)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(2)(GG),’’ before ‘‘(3),’’. 

19 SEC. 5. CONSTRUCTION; EFFECTIVE DATE. 

20 (a) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in the amendments 

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

22 of audiology services for which payment may be made 

23 under title XVIII of the Social Security Act on December 

24 31, 2010. 


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

2 this Act shall take effect with respect to services furnished 

3 on or after January 1, 2012. 

Æ 


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