I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2934
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for coverage
under the Medicare Program of hearing aids and related hearing services.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 21, 2001
Mr. FOLEY 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 juris-
diction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide
for coverage under the Medicare Program of hearing
aids and related hearing services.
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 ‘‘Medicare Aural
Rehabiliation and Hearing Aid Coverage Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. COVERAGE OF HEARING REHABILITATION.
(a) COVERAGE OF AURAL REHABILITATION SERV-
ICES.—Section 1861(s)(2) of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 1395x(s)(2)), as amended by sections 102(a) and
105(a) of the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits
Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 (as enacted into
law by section 1(a)(6) of Public Law 106–554), is
amended—
(1) in subparagraph (U), by striking ‘‘and’’ at
the end;
(2) in subparagraph (V) by inserting ‘‘and’’ at
the end; and
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
paragraph:
‘‘(W) aural rehabiliation services (as described
in subsection (ww)(2));’’.
(b) COVERAGE OF HEARING AIDS AS DURABLE MED-
ICAL EQUIPMENT.—Section 1861(s)(8) of the Social Secu-
rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(s)(8)) is amended by inserting
‘‘and hearing aids (as defined in subsection (ww)(3))’’ be-
fore the period.
(c) DEFINITION.—Section 1861 of the Social Secu-
rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x), as amended by sections
102(b) and 105(b) of the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP
Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 (as en-
acted into law by section 1(a)(6) of Public Law 106–554),
is amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section:
‘‘Hearing Rehabiliation
‘‘(ww)(1) The term ‘hearing rehabilitation’ means—
‘‘(A) aural rehabilitation services (described in
paragraph (2)) which meet such requirements as the
Secretary prescribes and which are furnished by a
physician or qualified audiologist, who is legally au-
thorized to furnish such services under the State law
(or the State regulatory mechanism provided by
State law) of the State in which the services are fur-
nished, and
‘‘(B) hearing aids (as defined in paragraph
(3)).
‘‘(2) The services described in this subparagraph
include—
‘‘(A) aural rehabilitation services;
‘‘(B) in the case of an individual who has a
hearing loss (as defined by the Secretary), a com-
prehensive audiologic assessment to determine if a
hearing aid is appropriate and to determine the need
for other diagnostic medical or audiologic testing;
and
‘‘(C) a threshold test to determine audio acuity.
‘‘(3)(A) The term ‘hearing aid’ means a hearing aid
described in subparagraph (B), including the services de-
scribed in subparagraph (C) furnished by a physician or
qualified audiologist, who is legally authorized to supply
such hearing aid under the State law (or State regulatory
mechanism provided by State law) of the State in which
the hearing aid is supplied, to an individual described in
subparagraph (D).
‘‘(B) A hearing aid described in this subparagraph
is any wearable instrument or device for, offered for the
purpose of, or represented as aiding individuals with, or
compensating for, hearing loss that meets requirements of
the Food and Drug Administration for marketing.
‘‘(C) The services described in this subparagraph
include—
‘‘(i) audiology services (as defined in subsection
(ll)(2));
‘‘(ii) a hearing aid assessment to determine the
appropriate hearing aid for the individual;
‘‘(iii) procurement of an appropriate hearing
aid;
‘‘(iv) initial fitting and adjustment of the hear-
ing aid;
‘‘(v) appropriate instruction on the use of the
hearing aid;
‘‘(vi) periodic refittings and adjustments; and
‘‘(vii) rehabilitation, including counseling on
hearing loss, speech reading, and auditory training.
‘‘(D) 
The 
individuals 
described 
in 
this
subparagraph—
‘‘(i) have been determined (as a result of a com-
prehensive audiologic assessment) to have a hearing
loss which can be appropriately treated with a hear-
ing aid;
‘‘(ii) have not been supplied with one monaural
hearing aid or two binaural hearing aids during the
preceding 3 years; and
‘‘(iii) have had a comprehensive audiologic as-
sessment which indicates that the hearing of such
individual has deteriorated since such individual was
last supplied with a hearing aid such that a hearing
aid of a different type is appropriate for such indi-
vidual.’’.
(d) INCLUSION
OF AUDIOLOGY REHABILITATION
SERVICES.—Section 1861(ll)(2) of the Social Security Act
(42 U.S.C. 1395x(ll)(2)) is amended by inserting ‘‘and re-
habilitation’’ after ‘‘balance assessment’’.
(e) EXCEPTION TO EXCLUSIONS FROM COVERAGE.—
Section 1862(a) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
1395y(a)(1)) is amended—
(1) in paragraph (1) by adding at the end the
following new subparagraph:
‘‘(J) in the case of hearing rehabilitation, which
is furnished or supplied more frequently than is pro-
vided under section 1861(ww);’’; and
(2) in paragraph (7) by striking ‘‘hearing aids
or examinations therefor’’.
(f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment
of this Act, and shall apply to items and services furnished
on or after the date the Secretary publishes a final regula-
tion to carry out the provisions of this Act, but in no case
later than January 1, 2003.
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