| 1 | 1 | | I |
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| 2 | 2 | | 118THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 244 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to remove the exclusion |
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| 6 | 6 | | of Medicare coverage for hearing aids and examinations therefor, and |
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| 7 | 7 | | for other purposes. |
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| 8 | 8 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 9 | 9 | | JANUARY10, 2023 |
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| 10 | 10 | | Mrs. D |
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| 11 | 11 | | INGELL(for herself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. KAPTUR, |
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| 12 | 12 | | Mr. K |
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| 13 | 13 | | ILMER, Ms. MATSUI, and Ms. SCHAKOWSKY) introduced the fol- |
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| 14 | 14 | | lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Com- |
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| 15 | 15 | | merce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a pe- |
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| 16 | 16 | | riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con- |
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| 17 | 17 | | sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- |
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| 18 | 18 | | mittee concerned |
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| 19 | 19 | | A BILL |
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| 20 | 20 | | To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to remove |
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| 21 | 21 | | the exclusion of Medicare coverage for hearing aids and |
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| 22 | 22 | | examinations therefor, and for other purposes. |
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| 23 | 23 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 24 | 24 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 25 | 25 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 26 | 26 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Medicare Hearing Aid 4 |
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| 27 | 27 | | Coverage Act of 2023’’. 5 |
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| 28 | 28 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 Jan 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H244.IH H244 |
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| 29 | 29 | | pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 30 | 30 | | •HR 244 IH |
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| 31 | 31 | | SEC. 2. REMOVING MEDICARE EXCLUSION OF COVERAGE 1 |
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| 32 | 32 | | OF HEARING AIDS AND EXAMINATIONS 2 |
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| 33 | 33 | | THEREFOR. 3 |
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| 34 | 34 | | (a) I |
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| 35 | 35 | | NGENERAL.—Section 1862(a)(7) of the Social 4 |
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| 36 | 36 | | Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395y(a)(7)) is amended by strik-5 |
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| 37 | 37 | | ing ‘‘hearing aids or examinations therefor,’’. 6 |
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| 38 | 38 | | (b) E |
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| 39 | 39 | | FFECTIVEDATE.—The amendment made by 7 |
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| 40 | 40 | | this section shall apply to items and services furnished on 8 |
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| 41 | 41 | | or after January 1, 2024. 9 |
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| 42 | 42 | | SEC. 3. GAO STUDY AND REPORT ON HEARING AID PRO-10 |
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| 43 | 43 | | GRAMS. 11 |
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| 44 | 44 | | (a) S |
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| 45 | 45 | | TUDY.—The Comptroller General of the United 12 |
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| 46 | 46 | | States shall conduct a study of programs, including Fed-13 |
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| 47 | 47 | | eral programs and health insurance coverage, that provide 14 |
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| 48 | 48 | | assistance for hearing aids and related examinations for 15 |
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| 49 | 49 | | individuals with hearing loss. Such study shall include an 16 |
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| 50 | 50 | | examination of the number of individuals in the United 17 |
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| 51 | 51 | | States with hearing loss who need hearing aids, their cov-18 |
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| 52 | 52 | | erage under such programs, and the effectiveness of such 19 |
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| 53 | 53 | | programs in meeting such need. Such study may also ad-20 |
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| 54 | 54 | | dress programs that are designed to reduce or mitigate 21 |
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| 55 | 55 | | the incidence of hearing loss. 22 |
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| 56 | 56 | | (b) R |
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| 57 | 57 | | EPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 23 |
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| 58 | 58 | | date specified in section 2(b), the Comptroller General 24 |
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| 59 | 59 | | shall submit a report to Congress on the study conducted 25 |
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| 60 | 60 | | under subsection (a). Such report shall include such rec-26 |
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| 62 | 62 | | pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 63 | 63 | | •HR 244 IH |
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| 64 | 64 | | ommendations on changes in such programs, including the 1 |
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| 65 | 65 | | establishment of new programs, as would meet the needs 2 |
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| 66 | 66 | | of individuals with hearing loss. 3 |
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| 67 | 67 | | Æ |
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| 68 | 68 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:36 Jan 20, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H244.IH H244 |
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| 69 | 69 | | pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB |
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