I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 353 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to include licensed hearing aid 

specialists as eligible for appointment in the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 14, 2015 

Mr. DUFFY (for himself, Mr. WALZ, and Mr. RUIZ) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to include licensed 

hearing aid specialists as eligible for appointment in the 

Veterans Health Administration of the Department of 

Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Veterans’ Access to 

5 Hearing Health Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. APPOINTMENT OF LICENSED HEARING AID SPE2 CIALISTS IN VETERANS HEALTH ADMINIS3 TRATION. 

4 (a) LICENSED HEARING AID SPECIALISTS.— 

5 (1) APPOINTMENT.—Section 7401(3) of title 

6 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘li7 censed hearing aid specialists,’’ after ‘‘Audiol8 ogists,’’. 

9 (2) QUALIFICATIONS.—Section 7402(b)(14) of 

10 such title is amended by inserting ‘‘licensed hearing 

11 aid specialist,’’ after ‘‘licensed physical therapist,’’. 

12 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

14 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and each 

15 year thereafter, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

16 shall submit to Congress a report on the following: 

17 (A) Timely access of veterans to hearing 

18 health services through the Department of Vet19 erans Affairs. 

20 (B) Contracting policies of the Department 

21 with respect to providing hearing health serv22 ices to veterans in facilities that are not facili23 ties of the Department. 

24 (2) TIMELY ACCESS TO SERVICES.—Each re25 port shall, with respect to the matter specified in 


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1 paragraph (1)(A) for the one-year period preceding 

2 the submittal of such report, include the following: 

3 (A) The staffing levels of audiologists, 

4 hearing aid specialists, and health technicians 

5 in audiology in the Veterans Health Adminis6 tration. 

7 (B) A description of the metrics used by 

8 the Secretary in measuring performance with 

9 respect to appointments and care relating to 

10 hearing health. 

11 (C) The average time that a veteran waits 

12 to receive an appointment, beginning on the 

13 date on which the veteran makes the request, 

14 for the following: 

15 (i) A disability rating evaluation for a 

16 hearing-related disability. 

17 (ii) A hearing aid evaluation. 

18 (iii) Dispensing of hearing aids. 

19 (iv) Any follow-up hearing health ap20 pointment. 

21 (D) The percentage of veterans whose total 

22 wait time for appointments described in sub23 paragraph (C), including an initial and follow24 up appointment, if applicable, is— 

25 (i) less than 15 days; 


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1 (ii) between 15 days and 28 days; 

2 (iii) between 29 days and 42 days; 

3 (iv) between 43 days and 56 days; or 

4 (v) more than 56 days. 

5 (3) CONTRACTING POLICIES.—Each report 

6 shall, with respect to the matter specified in para7 graph (1)(B) for the one-year period preceding the 

8 submittal of such report, include the following: 

9 (A) The number of veterans that the Sec10 retary refers to non-Department audiologists 

11 for hearing health care appointments. 

12 (B) The number of veterans that the Sec13 retary refers to non-Department hearing aid 

14 specialists for follow-up appointments for a 

15 hearing aid evaluation, the dispensing of hear16 ing aids, or any other purpose relating to hear17 ing health. 

18 (C) The policies of the Veterans Health 

19 Administration regarding the referral of vet20 erans to non-Department hearing aid specialists 

21 and a description of the manner in which such 

22 policies will be applied under the Patient-Cen23 tered Community Care program of the Depart24 ment. 

Æ 


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