ADA Members,

The House of Representatives adopted a Health Reform Reconciliation Bill Sunday to amend the Senate’s overall health reform bill which the House also adopted verbatim as part of the process.  During final negotiations over the weekend, the FDA Class I medical device tax exemption was dropped; however, a specific hearing aid exemption that was included in the legislation last Thursday was retained.  This will exempt hearing aids from the medical device tax that will be imposed on almost all other devices not sold at “retail.”  The Senate will now consider adoption of the House’s Reconciliation Bill through a simple majority vote, although the process is likely to be challenged on various legal and procedural grounds.

The House Reconciliation provisions are not binding until adopted by the Senate through its reconciliation process, and we will keep you posted as this issue develops. In the meantime, the Senate bill will be enacted into law when signed by the President.  That bill does contain the Class I exemption which also excludes hearing aids from the tax.

Thank you for your efforts in contacting your legislator regarding this very important issue. ADA will continue to work with the Hearing Industry Association (HIA) and other allied organizations representing people with hearing loss in a united effort to support the exemption of FDA Class I medical devices (including hearing aids) from any such tax proposals.

Contact
If you have any questions about the topics contained within this newsletter, contact ADA Headquarters:

Stephanie Czuhajewski, Executive Director
Academy of Doctors of Audiology
Phone: 866-493-5544 | Fax: 859-977-7441
info@audiologist.org

Audiologists are among the healthcare professionals targeted under the American Medical Association's (AMA’s) growing Scope of Practice Partnership (SOPP) project, an effort intended to unite doctors of medicine and osteopathy in opposition to the increasing use of “non-physician” practitioners. ADA recently gained access to an AMA SOPP publication on audiology, a document created to foster efforts to limit audiology's scope of practice, to advocate against direct access for Medicare patients, and to advance other objectives that may encroach on audiology as a doctoring profession.

The AMA document, which was intended to be used to constrain audiology’s scope of practice and splinter our progress has instead served to unify us as practitioners and professionals. ADA and its leaders harbor numerous concerns about both the content and the intent of the AMA document, including its assertions regarding the impact of direct access to Medicare; however, its publication serves to illustrate the importance of unity and mutual respect among the diverse organizations and entities that serve our profession, for our collective success and survival as autonomous practitioners. The AMA paper also clearly outlines some of audiology’s next great challenges and the urgency and care that we must employ to overcome them.

In addition to drafting our own response to the AMA document, ADA also joined a task force made up of other audiology organizations, to ensure that our collective scope of practice is defended and protected. Two of ADA’s Board members, Charlie Stone, Au.D., and Victor Bray, Ph.D., served on this task force and provided input on the response.

Please take the following link to view ADA’s response to the AMA.

Please take the following link to review the Task Force’s response to the AMA.

Dear Fellow ADA Member,

The ADA Board of Directors, Executive Director and Website Consultant have been intensely involved in reviewing the AMA Scope of Practice Partnership (SOPP) documents and activities and working on mechanisms to inform our members and respond to the AMA SOPP document regarding audiology. We would like to share some links we have found that provide information regarding the AMA SOPP*:

• The first link is a document from AMA Advocacy Resource Center (January 2009) which tracks Scope of Practice Campaign Trends for 2009 State Legislative/Regulatory Sessions (by state). You can see that there are entries regarding audiology legislative trends that this document is highlighting, as well as legislative activities by other health professions that the AMA is tracking.
• The second link, The Coalition for Patients' Rights, is an organization representing a coalition of 35 healthcare organizations, which have banded together to respond to the AMA. Be sure to check out their letter to President Obama in May 09 from a link on this page. Also view the Joint Statement from the menu on the left hand side.
• The third link will take you to blog pages that also reference the AMA SOPP, including a summary of the Coaltion for Patients' Rights.

The work by ADA regarding the AMA SOPP is an ongoing work in progress, and we will continue to share information that we find via the ADA website, the ADAConnect ListServ and the AuDioGram.

*If the links do not work for you, simply paste Scope of Practice Campaign Trends for 2009 into Google or other search engine, and you should be able to locate the document.

Due to copyright restrictions, the document entitled AMA Scope of Practice Data Series - Audiology, referenced in this LegislativeAlert,  is not available for viewing.

Attention ADA Members,

Audiologists are among the healthcare professionals targeted under the American Medical Association's (AMA) growing Scope of Practice Partnership (SOPP) project, a two-year-old effort intended to unite doctors of medicine and osteopathy in opposition to the increasing use of “non-physician” practitioners.

ADA has recently gained access to an AMA Scope of Practice Data Series publication on audiology, released in April. The AMA’s Advocacy Resource Center created this document to serve as a mechanism for state medical societies, to foster their efforts to limit audiology’s scope of practice, to advocate against direct access for Medicare patients, and to advance other objectives that may encroach on the profession of audiology.

ADA has numerous concerns about both the content and the intent of this publication, including the publication’s portrayal of education, training and practice requirements for audiologists and the publication’s assertions regarding the potential impact of direct access for audiology.

The AMA Scope of Practice Data Series module on audiology is one of ten modules, which also include similar publications (released or to be released) on the following professions: dentistry, naturopathy, optometry, pharmacy, physical therapy, podiatry, psychology, along with nurse anesthetists and nurse practitioners.

ADA is actively working with other organizations in an effort to formulate a comprehensive and cohesive response to the AMA Scope of Practice Series module on audiology and the overarching intent by the AMA Advocacy Resource Center in releasing this publication and the rest of the series.

ADA embraces and promotes audiologists owning the profession through autonomous practice models—and remains dedicated to advancing practitioner excellence, high ethical standards, professional autonomy and sound business practices in the provision of quality audiological care. ADA members and leaders have a duty to diligently protect our profession and the patients that we serve from outside interests that will hinder the provision of the highest quality hearing healthcare. I encourage you to read this document at your earliest convenience, and to join ADA and aligned organizations in ongoing efforts to disseminate accurate information to legislative bodies, regulatory agencies and other key influencers regarding the practice of audiology.

Thank you,

Charles Stone, Au.D.
President
Academy of Doctors of Audiology

Dear Fellow ADA Member,

H.R. 3024, The Medicare Hearing Health Care Enhancement Act of 2009 was introduced on June 24th—and if passed will amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide Medicare beneficiaries greater choice with regard to accessing hearing health services and benefits.

ADA and its Advocacy Committee urge you to contact your Congressman today to encourage him/her to support this critical piece of legislation. Your Congressman may be unfamiliar with this piece of legislation—please view key talking points that you can present in support of H.R. 3024 when you contact your legislator.

Please go to the following link to view a complete template letter that you can use. H.R. 3024, if passed, will eliminate the need for Medicare patients to obtain a physician referral prior to visiting an audiologist for an evaluation. Congressman Mike Ross (D-AR) has taken the lead, introducing this legislation, which has 13 original co-sponsors.

H.R. 3024 has been referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and to the Committee on Ways and Means. Please review the list of committee members for both committees . These committee members serve as critical influencers in advancing this legislation. If you live in these districts, redouble your efforts to ensure that Direct Access for Medicare patients becomes reality!

NOTE: Congress will be on recess from August 3rd through September 4th, and Representatives will be spending time in their home districts during this period. If possible, schedule an in-person meeting with your Congressman or his/her legislative aid during this time. Even better—schedule a meeting for you and several of your patients to meet with your Representative! An in person meeting can make a big difference in getting your message about Direct Access to Congress. Please view the following link to access H.R. 3024 in its entirety.

Contact your Representative today and ask him/her to co-sponsor this important legislation! Please copy ADA headquarters, or the Chair of the Advocacy Committee, Susan Parr, Au.D. when you contact your US Representative.

Thank you for your continued involvement in changing this situation,

ADA Advocacy Committee: Dr. Suzanne O’Connor, Dr. Susan Parr, and Dr. Alicia D. Spoor on behalf of the ADA Board of Directors.