III 109th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 277 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES February 3, 2005 Mr. Johnson (for himself, Mr. DeWine, and Mr. Harkin) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for direct access to audiologists for Medicare beneficiaries, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Hearing Health Accessibility Act of 2005.

2.

Direct access to qualified audiologists for Medicare beneficiaries

Section 1861(ll)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(ll)(2)) is amended by inserting before the period at the end the following: , without regard to any requirement that the individual receiving the audiology services be under the care of (or referred by) a physician or other health care practitioner or that such services are provided under the supervision of a physician or other health care practitioner.

3.

Inclusion of audiology services as a part b medical service; payment

(a)

In general

Section 1861(s)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(s)(2)) is amended— (1) in subparagraph (Y), by striking and at the end; (2) in subparagraph (Z), by inserting and at the end; and (3) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: (AA) audiology services (as defined in subsection (ll)(2)); . (b)

Payment under the physician fee schedule

Section 1848(j)(3) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w–4(j)(3)) is amended by inserting (2)(AA), after (2)(W),.

4.

Construction; effective date

(a)

Construction

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to expand the scope of audiology services for which payment may be made under title XVIII of the Social Security Act on December 31, 2005. (b)

Effective date

The amendments made by this Act shall take effect with respect to services furnished on or after January 1, 2006.