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.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the
Hearing Health Accessibility Act of
2005
.
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
.
Inclusion of audiology services as a part b medical service; payment
In general
Section 1861(s)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(s)(2)) is amended—
in subparagraph (Y), by
striking and
at the end;
in subparagraph (Z), by
inserting and
at the end; and
by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
audiology services (as defined in subsection (ll)(2));
.
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),
.
Construction; effective date
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.
Effective date
The amendments made by this Act shall take effect with respect to services furnished on or after January 1, 2006.