Legislation was introduced yesterday to improve access to hearing health care services. The Audiology Patient Choice Act, is a “bipartisan bill to ensure that seniors and people with disabilities on Medicare have access to a full range of hearing and balance health care services provided by a licensed audiologist.” US Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) introduced The Audiology Patient Choice Act as a bill that will “make a life-changing difference for millions of Americans who experience hearing loss and can’t access the care they need because of archaic regulations.” This is a “common sense step to bring down costs for our seniors” said Senator Warren. Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky) extolled the bill as proof “Congress can come together across the aisle to find solutions to improve our health care system.”
Medicare currently covers a range of hearing health services however, it does not recognize audiologists as providers of most hearing services. This new legislation allows audiologists to provide all services already covered by Medicare that are within an audiologist’s scope of practice and ensures that Medicare’s treatment of audiologists is consistent with the classification of other health care providers such as dentists, podiatrists, chiropractors, and optometrists. Read the full article at Hearinghealthmatters.org.