Academy Responds to Congressional Requests for Information

The Academy recently submitted comments in response to two Congressional Requests for Information (RFIs) on health care. The first Academy submission was in response to a request for information from the House Ways and Means Committee on existing barriers to the employment of the health-care workforce that are impacting access to care in rural and underserved areas. Academy comments highlighted the ways in which current Medicare policy limits beneficiary access to hearing health care in rural areas. The current requirement for a physician referral and the current audiologist classification as “supplier” that limits the services able to be provided results in significant barriers exacerbated in rural and underserved areas. Academy comments highlighted the Medicare Audiology Access Improvement Act and the ways in which this legislation would address these current concerns.

The Academy joined with the Academy of Doctors of Audiology and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association to respond to a second RFI from the House Budget Committee’s Health Care Task Force on improving outcomes and reducing federal health-care spending. The joint response again highlighted the provisions of Medicare Audiology Access Improvement Act. The legislation would remove existing redundancies in the Medicare treatment of audiology services and provide savings by removing an unnecessary doctor’s visit and beneficiary co-pay. In addition, increasing access to audiology services could potentially stave off costly downstream conditions such as falls.