The Medicare Audiology Access Improvement Act (H.R. 6445/S. 2377) would give seniors more timely and robust access to the full range of services audiologists are expertly educated and uniquely qualified to provide. Currently, Medicare only covers diagnostic tests performed by audiologists to assess hearing and balance when ordered by a physician, and vestibular and audiologic treatment (which are within an audiologist's scope of practice under state law) are only covered when provided by other practitioners. These unnecessary limitations delay access to care and impose high out-of-pocket costs on seniors.
The Medicare Audiology Access Improvement Act fixes these problems by
- expanding coverage to include all Medicare covered diagnostic and treatment services,
- streamlining access to audiology services by removing language that requires a physician referral, and
- reclassifying audiologists from “supplier” to “practitioner” under the Medicare statute, which would enable audiologists to permanently provide services via telehealth.
Congressional Action on the Medicare Audiology Access Improvement Act
- November 8, 2023: Senate sponsor Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) highlighted the bill during a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee [video from Senate Recording Studio, 11/08/2023], secured a commitment from the panel’s leaders to advance the bill in the future.
- November 17, 2023: ASHA President Bob Augustine was quoted in Rep. Bilirakis’s press release introducing H.R. 6445, noting that “ASHA looks forward to continued collaboration with these leaders and our allied partners to enact this bill as soon as possible—and to remove unnecessary bureaucratic barriers that prevent seniors from getting the hearing and balance care they need, when they need it.”
Download the Issue Brief [PDF] to learn more.
Please complete the form to email your members of Congress asking them to support H.R. 6445/S. 2377.
Questions? Please contact Josh Krantz, ASHA's director of federal affairs, health care, at jkrantz@asha.org.
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