Medicare Audiologist Access and Services Act Introduced in Congress, Intends to Streamline Access to Hearing and Balance Services
WASHINGTON, D.C. — With broad bi-partisan support, U.S. Representatives Tom Rice (R-SC), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Matt Cartwright (D-PA), Mike Kelly (R-PA), Ann Kuster (D-NH), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Mark Meadows (R-NC), Brad Schneider (D-IL), and Lisa Blunt-Rochester (D-DE) introduced the Medicare Audiologist Access and Services Act of 2019 (H.R. 4056). This legislation will…
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New Study Delves into Link Between Hearing Aid Use and Healthcare Costs
As members of AAA debate the merits of direct access legislation, a new study, published online April 26 at JAMA-Otolaryngology is apt to capture the attention of Medicare policymakers. Elham Mahmoudi and colleagues at the University of Michigan, using data from the 2013-2014 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, evaluated hearing aid use among 1336 adults, aged…
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Legislation Introduced to Improve Access to Hearing Health Care Services
WASHINGTON, DC — United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) today introduced the Audiology Patient Choice Act, a bipartisan bill that ensures seniors and people with disabilities on Medicare have access to a full range of hearing and balance health care services provided by licensed audiologists. A June 2016 report by the…
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After Passage of Tennessee Hearing Protection Act, Residents Now Allowed to Use Firearm Silencers
CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE — The Tennessee Hearing Protection Act of 2017 officially went into effect on July 1st, after passing through the state legislature this year. No longer banned in the state, Tennesseans can now use firearm suppressors (silencers) on their guns. Backers of the legislation say its going to help protect the hearing of hunters…
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Policy Experts Float Idea of Medicare Coverage for Hearing Services
Since the inception of the program, some 50 years ago, Medicare has excluded coverage for dental, vision and hearing services. The program has directly contributed to sharp declines in mortality and longer life expectancy for those aged 65 and older. Today, however, given the linkage between increased costs and poorer overall health and disorders related…
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Hearing Industries Association leads an all-out effort for hearing aid tax credit
WASHINGTON, DC—When the Hearing Industries Association (HIA) holds both its biennial Hearing on the Hill and its annual meeting here this week, the trade association will be focused on passage of the Hearing Aid Tax Credit bill (S. 315). Although similar legislation introduced in the past several sessions of Congress has never been enacted despite…
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Audiology Patient Choice Act picks up momentum, as AAA adds its endorsement
By David H. Kirkwood LEXINGTON, KY—Support is growing rapidly for the Audiology Patient Choice Act (HR 5304), ambitious federal legislation initiated by the Academy of Doctors of Audiology (ADA) and introduced into the House of Representatives last July. If enacted, the measure would provide Medicare patients direct access to audiologists and would grant audiologists…
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CMS backs down; will preserve Medicare coverage of bone-anchored hearing systems
By David H. Kirkwood WASHINGTON, DC—Responding to a broad-based national campaign by manufacturers, hearing care providers, and consumer advocates, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on October 31 that it had reversed its position and would not end Medicare coverage of auditory osseointegrated implants (AOIs). As previously reported on this blog, CMS…
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Audiologists, dispensers, and consumers all have a stake in bills before Congress
By David H. Kirkwood WASHINGTON, DC—After taking two months off to campaign for re-election, the 113rd Congress will finally return to Washington sometime in November for a brief lame duck session. There it will find a slew of bills related to hearing care waiting for them. Barring a miracle, this Congress, which has enacted less…
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CMS plans to end Medicare coverage of bone-anchored hearing systems
By David H. Kirkwood This post was updated on July 31. CENTENNIAL, CO—People with hearing loss have long complained that Medicare doesn’t cover the cost of hearing aids. Now, older Americans who need help with their hearing face the loss of coverage for another type of treatment, osseo-integrated (or bone-anchored) devices, such as the Cochlear™…
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