II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2311 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 8, 2014 

Mr. TESTER (for himself, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. BEGICH, and Mr. 

WALSH) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 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. APPOINTMENT OF LICENSED HEARING AID 

4 SPECIALISTS IN VETERANS HEALTH ADMIN5 ISTRATION. 

6 (a) LICENSED HEARING AID SPECIALISTS.— 

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

8 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘liVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:56 May 14, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2311.IS S2311

dlhill on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 2311 IS

1 censed hearing aid specialists,’’ after ‘‘Audiol2 ogists,’’. 

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

4 such title is amended by inserting ‘‘licensed hearing 

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

6 (b) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

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

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

9 year thereafter, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

10 shall submit to Congress a report on the following: 

11 (A) Timely access of veterans to hearing 

12 health services through the Department of Vet13 erans Affairs. 

14 (B) Contracting policies of the Department 

15 with respect to providing hearing health serv16 ices to veterans in facilities that are not facili17 ties of the Department. 

18 (2) TIMELY ACCESS TO SERVICES.—Each re19 port shall, with respect to the matter specified in 

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

21 the submittal of such report, include the following: 

22 (A) The staffing levels of audiologists, 

23 hearing aid specialists, and health technicians 

24 in audiology in the Veterans Health Adminis25 tration. 


dlhill on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 2311 IS

1 (B) A description of the metrics used by 

2 the Secretary in measuring performance with 

3 respect to appointments and care relating to 

4 hearing health. 

5 (C) The average time that a veteran waits 

6 to receive an appointment, beginning on the 

7 date on which the veteran makes the request, 

8 for the following: 

9 (i) A disability rating evaluation for a 

10 hearing-related disability. 

11 (ii) A hearing aid evaluation. 

12 (iii) Dispensing of hearing aids. 

13 (iv) Any follow-up hearing health ap14 pointment. 

15 (D) The percentage of veterans whose total 

16 wait time for appointments described in sub17 paragraph (C), including an initial and follow18 up appointment, if applicable, is— 

19 (i) less than 15 days; 

20 (ii) between 15 days and 28 days; 

21 (iii) between 29 days and 42 days; 

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

23 (v) more than 56 days. 

24 (3) CONTRACTING POLICIES.—Each report 

25 shall, with respect to the matter specified in paraVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:56 May 14, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2311.IS S2311

dlhill on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 2311 IS

1 graph (1)(B) for the one-year period preceding the 

2 submittal of such report, include the following: 

3 (A) The number of veterans that the Sec4 retary refers to non-Department audiologists 

5 for hearing health care appointments. 

6 (B) Of the veterans described in subpara7 graph (A), the number of veterans that the Sec8 retary refers to non-Department hearing aid 

9 specialists for follow-up appointments for a 

10 hearing aid evaluation, the dispensing of hear11 ing aids, or any other purpose relating to hear12 ing health. 

13 (C) The policies of the Veterans Health 

14 Administration regarding the referral of vet15 erans to non-Department hearing aid specialists 

16 and a description of the manner in which such 

17 policies will be applied under the Patient-Cen18 tered Community Care program of the Depart19 ment. 

Æ 


dlhill on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS