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ADA continues to seek permanent relief for audiologists from Medicare sequestration cuts, contained in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The Protecting Medicare and American Farmers from Sequester Cuts Act enacted in December 2021 authorized a three-month delay of 2% Medicare sequester payment reductions (until March 31, 2022), followed by a three-month, 1% reduction in Medicare sequester payment reductions (from April 1, 2022 - June 30, 2022).

On World Hearing Day, March 3, 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) will focus on the importance of safe listening to optimize hearing over a lifetime. The theme for World Hearing Day 2022, “To hear for life, listen with care,” will focus on the importance and means of hearing loss prevention through safe listening, with the following key messages:

As of January 2022, the federal No Surprises Act (NSA) requires health care providers, including audiologists, to alert patients to potential out-of-network charges and give uninsured and self-pay patients an upfront cost estimate, among many other policy changes.

Avoid costly surprises for your practice—Register for the ADA No Surprises Act (NSA) webinar. This live session will provide a comprehensive overview of NSA provisions and key information that audiologists need to know to stay compliant with its provisions. Template forms will also be available for ADA members after the event.

When: Thursday, March 17, 2022, at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Where: Virtual, live webinar

AAA, ADA, and ASHA have been working collaboratively to help shape congressional legislation that could add new hearing benefits to Medicare.

The Senate Finance Committee recently released its version of the Build Back Better Act (H.R. 5376), which passed in the House of Representatives last month. This bill contains several provisions critical to audiologists. Like the House bill, the Senate language expands Medicare coverage of treatment services audiologists provide and reclassifies audiologists as “practitioners” under the Medicare statute. The Senate language also removes the physician order requirement that prevents Medicare beneficiaries from directly accessing services provided by audiologists, and provides greater clarity on the distinct roles and responsibilities of professions involved in the dispensing of hearing aids. Coverage of treatment services, removal of the physician order requirement, and “practitioner” status constitute the three core components of the Medicare Audiologist Access and Services Act (H.R. 1587/S. 1731), which AAA, ADA, and ASHA have been championing since 2019.

ADA’s 2021 AuDacity Conference, Audiology Unleashed, delivered unmatched education and networking opportunities for more than 400 members and guests from October 25 – 27, 2021 in Portland, Oregon—and access to more than 30-hours of online content. The AuDacity program focused on the role of audiology services as public health services with featured sessions on hearing health equity, inter-professional collaboration, health literacy, managing comorbidities, and improving awareness and access to care.

On November 19, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an amended version of the Build Back Better Act (H.R. 5376) that includes several hearing-related provisions that would impact Medicare patients and audiologists, if ultimately enacted. The bill includes provisions that would add coverage of treatment services provided by audiologists and would reclassify audiologists as practitioners, two of the three provisions in the Medicare Audiologist Access and Services Act (MAASA). However, the Build Back Better Act does not include a provision to eliminate the physician order requirement for Medicare beneficiaries as a condition of coverage of audiology services.