[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8307]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1410
              MEDICARE AUDIOLOGY SERVICES ENHANCEMENT ACT

  (Mr. BILIRAKIS asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute.)
  Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to offer solutions for 
seniors who are hard of hearing.
  Under current Medicare rules, seniors are unable to visit the 
audiologists of their choice due to a payment structure that classifies 
these specialists differently based on their locations. Even though 
they offer the same care, an in-practice audiologist for an ENT can 
bill services directly to Medicare under the ENT's provider number. 
However, if the patient is referred to an independent audiologist, he 
cannot bill these services directly.
  The Medicare Audiology Services Enhancement Act, which I will 
introduce this week, will end this inequity and allow independent 
audiologists to directly bill Medicare--expanding access to care for 
our seniors.
  The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and ENT physicians 
across the country have already expressed support. I urge my colleagues 
to sign on to this good piece of legislation.

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