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 Administra-
tion 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Veterans’ Access to 
Hearing Health Act of 2015’’. 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
07:09 Jan 22, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H353.IH
H353
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. APPOINTMENT OF LICENSED HEARING AID SPE-
CIALISTS IN VETERANS HEALTH ADMINIS-
TRATION. 
(a) LICENSED HEARING AID SPECIALISTS.— 
(1) APPOINTMENT.—Section 7401(3) of title 
38, United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘li-
censed hearing aid specialists,’’ after ‘‘Audiol-
ogists,’’. 
(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—Section 7402(b)(14) of 
such title is amended by inserting ‘‘licensed hearing 
aid specialist,’’ after ‘‘licensed physical therapist,’’. 
(b) ANNUAL REPORT.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than one year 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, and each 
year thereafter, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
shall submit to Congress a report on the following: 
(A) Timely access of veterans to hearing 
health services through the Department of Vet-
erans Affairs. 
(B) Contracting policies of the Department 
with respect to providing hearing health serv-
ices to veterans in facilities that are not facili-
ties of the Department. 
(2) TIMELY ACCESS TO SERVICES.—Each re-
port shall, with respect to the matter specified in 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
07:09 Jan 22, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H353.IH
H353
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(ii) between 15 days and 28 days; 
(iii) between 29 days and 42 days; 
(iv) between 43 days and 56 days; or 
(v) more than 56 days. 
(3) 
CONTRACTING
POLICIES.—Each 
report 
shall, with respect to the matter specified in para-
graph (1)(B) for the one-year period preceding the 
submittal of such report, include the following: 
(A) The number of veterans that the Sec-
retary refers to non-Department audiologists 
for hearing health care appointments. 
(B) The number of veterans that the Sec-
retary refers to non-Department hearing aid 
specialists for follow-up appointments for a 
hearing aid evaluation, the dispensing of hear-
ing aids, or any other purpose relating to hear-
ing health. 
(C) The policies of the Veterans Health 
Administration regarding the referral of vet-
erans to non-Department hearing aid specialists 
and a description of the manner in which such 
policies will be applied under the Patient-Cen-
tered Community Care program of the Depart-
ment. 
Æ 
VerDate Sep 11 2014 
07:09 Jan 22, 2015
Jkt 049200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H353.IH
H353
SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS