[envira-gallery id="844"] The staff at The Hearing Center has been actively advocating for the Audiology Patient Choice act on behalf of our patients. Currently there is legislation in committee in both the House of Representatives and the Senate that will increase Medicare beneficiaries access to audiologists, with what is called ‘direct access’. Those bills HR 2276 and S.2575 will allow our patients with traditional Medicare to directly access our services.
Our staff met with the Newark, NJ staff of Senator Cory Booker in the summer. Just this past week we met with Congressman Leonard Lance of the 7th District of NJ at his Westfield office. Representative Lance voiced his support for the legislation.
It is of note that the APCA does not increase services currently offered by Medicare, and will NOT increase costs to the plan, it likely will reduce costs incurred by Medicare. Medicare advantage plans currently offer direct access to audiologists, unlike traditional Medicare. The act allows audiologists to practice within their scope of practice and to be reimbursed by Medicare for those services. Other Federal health benefit plans allow for direct access to audiologists. Reach out to your Senators and Representatives and ask them to support the APCA today!