WASHINGTON, D.C. – July 19, 2023 – Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown joined U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Rand Paul (R-KY), and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) in introducing the bipartisan Medicare Audiology Access Improvement Act, legislation to ensure that seniors and people with disabilities on Medicare are able to access a full range of hearing and balance health care services provided by licensed audiologists.
“Ohioans shouldn’t have to jump hurdles to access the quality healthcare they need,” said Brown. “This legislation removes outdated barriers and makes it easier for older Americans and people with disabilities to get the audiology care they need for early diagnoses, prevention and treatment for balance conditions and hearing loss.”
The Medicare Audiology Access Improvement Act is supported by the American Academy of Audiology, Academy of Doctors of Audiology, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and National Association of Rural Health Clinics.
Specifically, the Medicare Audiology Access Improvement Act:
- Amends the definition of “audiology services” in the Medicare statute, which specifies the services that audiologists may provide, to include all services already covered by Medicare that are also within an audiologist’s scope of practice;
- Amends the Medicare definition of practitioner to include audiologists, which improves beneficiary access to audiologic and vestibular care, a change that is consistent with Medicare’s classification of similar health care providers such as clinical social workers and clinical psychologists;
- Makes technical changes to remove the pre-treatment order requirement, which does not exist with any other federal or commercial payer;
- Ensures seniors and people with disabilities can receive the full scope of audiology services covered by Medicare at Rural Health Centers and Federally Qualified Health Centers; and
- Makes no changes to the scope of hearing health benefits covered by Medicare or the scope of practice of audiologists.