I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3508 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify the qualifications of hearing 
aid specialists of the Veterans Health Administration of the Department 
of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 15, 2013 
Mr. DUFFY (for himself and Mr. WALZ) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify the quali-
fications of hearing aid specialists of 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. APPOINTMENT OF HEARING AID SPECIALISTS 
TO VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION. 
(a) HEARING AID SPECIALISTS.— 
(1) APPOINTMENT.—Section 7401(3) of title 
38, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
‘‘hearing aid specialists,’’ after ‘‘Audiologists,’’. 
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(2) QUALIFICATIONS.—Section 7402(b) of such 
title is amended— 
(A) by redesignating paragraph (14) as 
paragraph (15); and 
(B) by inserting after paragraph (13) the 
following new paragraph (14): 
‘‘(14) HEARING AID SPECIALIST.—To be eligible to 
be appointed to a hearing aid specialist position, a person 
must— 
‘‘(A) hold an associate’s degree in hearing in-
strument sciences, or its equivalent, from a college 
or university approved by the Secretary, or have suc-
cessfully completed a hearing aid specialist appren-
ticeship program approved by the Secretary; and 
‘‘(B) be licensed as a hearing aid specialist, or 
its equivalent, in a State.’’. 
(b) TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CURRENT SPECIAL-
ISTS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—A hearing aid specialist de-
scribed in paragraph (2) shall be deemed to be eligi-
ble for appointment to a hearing aid specialist posi-
tion under sections 7401(3) and 7402(b)(14) of title 
38, United States Code, as amended by subsection 
(a). 
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(2) HEARING AID SPECIALIST DESCRIBED.—A 
hearing aid specialist described in this paragraph is 
a hearing aid specialist who— 
(A) 
is 
not 
covered 
under 
section 
7402(b)(14) of title 38, United States Code, as 
amended by subsection (a); and 
(B) during the two-year period ending on 
the date of the enactment of this Act— 
(i) held an unrevoked, unsuspended 
hearing aid license, or its equivalent, in a 
State; and 
(ii) worked as a licensed hearing aid 
specialist in a State. 
(c) ANNUAL REPORT REQUIRED.— 
(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 to hearing health serv-
ices. 
(B) Contracting policies with respect to 
providing hearing health services in non-De-
partment facilities. 
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(2) TIMELY ACCESS.—With respect to the mat-
ters under paragraph (1)(A), the report shall include 
the following: 
(A) The staffing levels, as of the date of 
the report, of audiologists, health technicians in 
audiology, and hearing aid specialists in the 
Veterans Health Administration. 
(B) A description of how the Secretary 
measures performance with respect to appoint-
ments and care relating to hearing health. 
(C) The average time, as of the date of the 
report, that a patient waits to receive an ap-
pointment, beginning on the date on which the 
patient makes the request, for— 
(i) a disability rating evaluation; 
(ii) a primary hearing aid evaluation 
and ordering of hearing aids; 
(iii) dispensing of hearing aids; and 
(iv) any follow-up hearing health ap-
pointment. 
(D) The percentage of patients whose total 
wait time described in subparagraph (C) for 
both an initial and follow-up appointment is— 
(i) less than 15 days; 
(ii) between 15 days and 28 days; 
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(iii) between 29 days and 42 days; 
(iv) between 43 days and 56 days; or 
(v) exceeds 56 days. 
(3) CONTRACTING POLICIES.—With respect to 
the matters under paragraph (1)(B), the report shall 
include the following: 
(A) The number of patients that the Sec-
retary refers to non-Department audiologists 
for initial hearing health diagnosis appoint-
ments. 
(B) The number of patients described in 
subparagraph (A) whom the Secretary refers to 
non-Department hearing aid specialists for fol-
low-up hearing health care as described in para-
graph (2)(C). 
(C) The policies of the Veterans Health 
Administration regarding the referral of pa-
tients to non-Department hearing aid specialists 
and how such policies will be applied under the 
Patient-Centered Community Care Initiative. 
(d) UPDATED HANDBOOK.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
shall update and reissue the handbook of the Veteran 
Health Administration numbered 1170.02 and titled 
‘‘VHA Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Serv-
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ices’’ to reflect the requirements made by this section or 
the amendments under this section. 
Æ 
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