Governmental Affairs

Texas Academy Governmental Affairs

Identify your federal Texas representatives and learn about pending federal legislation online.

Identify your State Representative and State Senator online: www.legis.state.tx.us

Texas Legislature Frequently Asked Questions

Hearing Aid Tax Credit Bill (03/03/2008)

The Hearing Aid Tax Credit Bill currently has 71 cosponsors in the House. It is still in the Ways and Means committee. For a better understanding of the tax credit bill, please see:

www.hearingloss.org

Use the sample letter on that page to write your Congressman/woman.

Legislation Tracked for TAA (9/12/2007)

The 80th Texas Legislature adjourned in August 2007. Among bills considered were the following legislative actions pertinent to Audiology (status was tracked for TAA by our legislative support team in Austin).

HB 3249/SB 915 - The bill that adjusts the schedule of Sunset Reviews for various agencies; moving the review of the SLP/Aud. Board and the F&D Committee from 2009 till 2013. PASSED
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=80R&Bill=HB 3249

SB 29 - Requiring the collection of additional personal and professional data for licensed health practitioners. PASSED
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=80R&Bill=sb 29

SB 158/HB 721 - Requires educational diagnosticians to be certified in the Education Code. Grandfathers all those currently employed by a school district. PASSED
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=80R&Bill=HB 721

HB 3950 - The creation of a "Scope of Practice Commission" that would review and make recommendations to the legislature changes in the scope of practice for various licensed health practitioners. FAILED
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=80R&Bill=HB 3950

HB 2939/SB 1907 - The consolidation of all health licensing agencies under one new agency. FAILED
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=80R&Bill=HB 2939

Ask Your Texas Congressmen to Support HR 1665 (8/21/2007)

Read President Jim Phelan's letter to Congressman Ross, which you can use as a basis for your own letter to your own congressman.

Here's a list of the current cosponsors of the bill. This list includes the following Texas congressmen:

Rep Hinojosa, Ruben [TX-15] - 7/31/2007
Rep Lampson, Nick [TX-22] - 3/23/2007
Rep Neugebauer, Randy [TX-19] - 4/25/2007
Rep Paul, Ron [TX-14] - 3/23/2007

Surely we can get the cooperation of more than only four! Contact your congressman!

01 Louie Gohmert ......Tyler
02 Ted Poe ......Humble
03 SamJohnson ......Plano
04 Ralph M. Hall ......Rockwall
05 Jeb Hensarling ......Dallas
06 Joe Barton ......Ennis
07 John Abney Culberson ......Houston
08 KevinBrady ......The Woodlands
09 Al Green ......Houston
10 Michael T. McCaul......Austin
11 K. Michael Conaway ......Midland
12 KayGranger ......FortWorth
13 Mac Thornberry ......Clarendon
14 Ron Paul......Surfside
15 Rubén Hinojosa ......Mercedes
16 Silvestre Reyes ......El Paso
17 ChetEdwards ......Waco
18 Sheila Jackson-Lee ......Houston
19 Randy Neugebauer......Lubbock
20 Charles A. Gonzalez ......San Antonio
21 Lamar Smith......San Antonio
22 Nick Lampson ..Stafford
23 Ciro D. Rodriguez ......SanAntonio
24 Kenny Marchant ......Coppell
25 Lloyd Doggett......Austin
26 Michael C. Burgess ......Lewisville
27 Solomon P. Ortiz......Corpus Christi
28 Henry Cuellar ......Laredo
29 Gene Green ......Houston
30 Eddie Bernice Johnson ......Dallas
31 John R. Carter ......Round Rock
32 Pete Sessions......Dallas

Urge Your Legislators to Support EHDI Reauthorization (8/13/2007)

This is the second of week of August, and it is Advocacy Month at ASHA. As Chair of ASHA’s Government Relations and Public Policy (GRPP) Board, I am sending you an email every Monday in August to ask you to write to your legislators in support of specific bills that will impact our jobs and those we serve.

This week’s legislation would reauthorize the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) grants. The EHDI grants are federal funds provided to states for the implementation and administration of state-wide programs that screen infants for hearing loss before they leave the hospital. The program has been very successful. Currently, over 95% of all infants are screened for hearing loss before they leave the hospital. Unfortunately, 50% of those children who are found to have hearing loss are lost to the system. We do not know if they are getting their follow-up diagnostic evaluations or being enrolled in early intervention programs. The EHDI legislation would reauthorize the program and emphasize follow-up and enrollment in early intervention programs.

The bill number in the House of Representatives is H.R. 1198, and the bill number in the Senate is S. 1069.

Please urge your Representative and Senators to support this important legislation. You can email your legislators about this bill by visiting ASHA’s website at: http://takeaction.asha.org/asha2/issues/alert/?alertid=9576436 . You just fill in your name and address and click “Send Message.”

Thank you for taking the time to send this message. ASHA is only as strong as our individual members.

If you have any questions, please contact Susan Brannen,
Chair, GRPP Board, at sbrannen @ monroe2boces.org or Deborah Darcy, ASHA’s Director of Grassroots Advocacy, at 1-800-498-2071, ext. 4427 or via email at ddarcy @ asha.org.

AudiologyNOW! Featured Session now available online (8/16/2007)

The eAudiology on-demand library now includes two Featured Sessions from AudiologyNOW! Both sessions received rave reviews from attendees!

Psychological Factors in Patients with Dizziness
http://eo2.commpartners.com/users/audio/session.php?id=789
Jeffrey P. Staab, MD

"Wonderful! Clearly very-well qualified for this topic and easy to listen to and follow"
"Great presenter - I enjoyed a psychiatrist's perspective"
"Excellent speaker, dynamic presentation. Extremely useful clinically"

Pharmacological Protection from Noise-Induced Hearing Loss
http://eo2.commpartners.com/users/audio/session.php?id=791
Kathleen Campbell, Ph.D. and Donald Henderson, Ph.D.

"Incredible knowledge of subject. OUTSTANDING presentation"
"EXCELLENT research and practical applications!! Thank you!"
"Stellar presentation by Dr. Henderson and Dr. Campbell!!"

Tax Credit Bill

Urgent Request! (6/22/2007)

This Word document will give you step-by-step instructions on how to reach your Congressperson and the two Senators from Texas. I have contacted all of the 32 Congressmen and 2 Senators with regards to this new piece of legislation for the 110th Congress. I was surprised to find that they were not aware of this legislation and had not received enough correspondence from Texas citizens to get their attention on this critical industry piece of legislation. The sample letter that is part of the attachment gives all of the statistical data for Texas and how this legislation will benefit the Texas hearing impaired population. All you have to do is go into the Word program, type in your name and address and in many cases, simply email that to your Congressperson or fax it to their Congressional office in Washington, D.C.

This effort will not take you more than 3 minutes to complete and it is urgent that we start this campaign and get the Texas delegation to support this effort. I am also in hopes that the Texas Hearing Aid Association as well as the Texas Academy of Audiology can work together and send a delegation to Washington to lobby directly with the Texas Congressional representatives.

Your support will make a difference.

Ray Jones (porterth @ flash.net)

LEGISLATIVE ISSUES

Direct Access
The Hearing Health Accessibility Act (H.R. 415/S. 277) recently picked up endorsements from a few key national organizations. The National Court Reporters Association and the Hearing Loss Association of America, formerly SHHH (endorsed the bill under their new name), provided letters of support for the legislation. Both are members of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Alliance, a Washington, DC based coalition of professional and consumer groups advocating on behalf of hearing health. In addition, the National Rural Health Association, a major player in health care circles in Washington is also backing the legislation. With few legislative days remaining in the 109th Congress, it is unlikely that these bills will see any action in the current session. The Academy will move forward to have these bills reintroduced in the House and Senate in the 110th Congress with consideration given to possible changes in the political landscape as a result of the upcoming Congressional Midterm Elections (see related story).

In the meantime, the Academy is anticipating the release of a report from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) prompted by report language in the FY 2006 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, requesting CMS to provide a determination as to the current legal authority to permit direct access to licensed audiologists in the Medicare program.

Medicare Reimbursement Requires Fix
If Congress fails to act this year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) could cut the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) by close to 5% on January 1, 2007, and as much as 37% through 2015. Medicare reimbursement for audiologists is tied to the MPFS. Legislation is being considered in the Congress to increase the fee schedule by 2.8% in 2007, as recommended by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission and replace Medicare's flawed payment formula, known as the Sustainable Growth Rate, or SGR, with a formula that reflects increases in practice costs. Representatives Nancy Johnson (R-CT) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) are circulating a letter throughout the House to the Speaker of House Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) seeking congressional approval of an increase in Medicare reimbursements before adjournment in October.

ACTION ALERT: The Academy is asking you to call or write your Representative today and urge them to join Reps. Johnson and Cardin in support of congressional action to avert cuts to Medicare before the Congress concludes their business later this month. Please visit the Academy Legislative Action Center for more information.

2006 Midterm Congressional Elections
The election to name members to the upcoming 110th Congress will be held on November 7, 2006. This so-called "midterm" election gets its name because it is held in between presidential elections. All of the seats in the U.S. House of Representatives will be up for grabs along with 33 Senate seats.

With Congressional races in full swing, this presents an excellent opportunity for you to learn more about where the candidates in your state/district stand on some of the pending congressional issues facing audiologists. Check the local news media to see if a candidate's forum or similar public event will be held, plan to attend, and find out where they stand on:

1. Direct Access, and
2. Medicare Reimbursement.

Cosponsors Departing and Staying
Three members of Congress from the list of H.R. 415 cosponsors, plan to retire at the end of this Congress. The list includes: Martin Olav Sabo (D-MN), Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) and Henry Hyde (R-IL). While we lose these three members, there are seven current co-sponsors who are facing little or no major party opposition and are likely to be re-elected in the 110th Congress. They are as follows:

Spencer Bachus (R-AL)
George Miller (D-CA)
Ben Chandler (D-KY)
Elijah Cummings (D-MD)
Charles (Chip) Pickering (R-MS)
Robert Andrews (D-NJ)
Mike Doyle (D-PA)

Please view the Academy Legislative Action Center for further information or contact the Government Relations Department at gr@audiology.org for further assistance.

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REIMBURSEMENT ISSUES

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Academy Comments on CMS Proposed Changes for Practice Expense Calculations
The Academy has submitted comments on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed rule on the five-year-review results and proposed practice expense changes for 2007. In a letter, which recognizes CMS' efforts to moderate the effect of the rule's practice expense revisions, the Academy outlines concerns about the impact of future payment decreases for key audiology services at a time when audiologists are already faced with payment reductions resulting from elimination of the Non-Physician Work Pool. View the complete letter.

Second Proposed Rule for 2007 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule
On August 22, 2006, CMS released a second proposed rule to revise payment rates and policies under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for 2007. This proposal is in addition to the proposed revisions to the work relative value units (RVUs) and proposed changes in the methodology for calculating practice expense RVUs published in the June 29 Federal Register. CMS is soliciting public comments on the proposed rule until October 10, 2006. As in the past, the Academy will be working with other audiology organizations to develop and synchronize comments in response to the ruling. In the meantime, questions or comments may be directed to Lisa Miller, Director of Reimbursement at lmiller@audiology.org. View a summary of the ruling and the impact on audiology services.

Proposed Rule for Outpatient Prospective Payment System
On August 23, 2006, CMS published a proposed rule to set the payment rates for calendar year (CY) 2007 under the Medicare Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS). Under the proposed rule, Medicare payments to hospitals for audiology services furnished to outpatients in 2007 would increase modestly from 2006 levels. CMS is also proposing to implement a new payment system for surgical procedures performed in an ambulatory surgical center (ASC) effective January 1, 2008. View the proposed rule.

Final Regulations Issued For Electronic Health Records Technology
On August 8, 2006, CMS and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued final rules that create new exceptions and safe harbors to two key federal fraud and abuse laws for arrangements involving the donation of certain electronic health information technology and services. The CMS rule allows for two new exceptions to the physician self-referral (Stark) law, which prohibits a physician from referring Medicare patients for certain designated health services (DHS) to entities with which the physician has a financial relationship, unless an exception applies. The law also prohibits the health care entity from billing for Medicare services that are furnished as a result of a prohibited referral. Similar to the CMS rule, the OIG rule establishes two new safe harbors under the federal anti-kickback statute. Arrangements involving the provision of items and services that meet the requirements of the safe harbors are exempt from enforcement action under the federal anti-kickback statute related to electronic prescribing as well as electronic health records systems. Read the summary in full.

Final Inpatient Prospective Payment System Rule Brings Major Reforms To Medicare Payments
On August 1, 2006, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the hospital inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) final rule for fiscal year (FY) 2007. In this rule, which commences CMS's three year transition of hospital inpatient payment reform, CMS estimates FY 2007 operating and capital payments for hospitals under the Medicare program will increase by $3.4 billion, with payment rates increasing by 3.5 percent on average to all hospitals. Read the complete summary.

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REGULATORY ISSUES

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National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) Advisory Council Meeting
The NIDCD Advisory Council held a meeting on Friday, September 8, 2006, where the Director of NIDCD, Dr. James Battey, Jr., announced that the Fiscal Year (FY) 2007 NIH Budget has not been yet been approved. The projected budget for NIDCD requested by the President for FY 2007 is $391,556,000, approximately two million dollars less than the FY 2006 budget of $393,458,000. The proposed budget cuts will affect the funds available for both non-competing and competing research projects, as well as overall total research grants at NIDCD. It is anticipated that Congress will not pass the Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill before October 1st, the start of FY 2007. Thus, a continuing resolution will be adopted that will allow the government to continue spending at the same rate in FY 2007 as was authorized for FY 2006.

The Division of Scientific Programs provided information on their Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program and a Pediatric Research Loan Repayment Program, which are viewed as incentives for health professionals to integrate clinical research, pediatric research and other targeted research into their professional career path. In exchange for a two-year commitment to clinical research, NIH will pay up to $35,000 in qualified educational debt, pay an additional 39% of the repayments to cover the Federal taxes and may reimburse state taxes that result from these payments. Applicants must meet certain qualifications. For more information regarding available opportunities for audiologists, please visit www.lrp.nih.gov.

CMS Administrator Resigns
Administrator Mark McClellan has resigned his post from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. McClellan said he will be leaving to take a position at a "think tank" where he could focus on ways to improve the nation's health care system. Several names have been considered to replace McClellan including: Leslie Norwalk, CMS deputy administrator; Herb Kuhn, current director of CMS Center for Medicare Management; and Julie Goon, a senior White House health care policy advisor. The new administrator will be facing many challenges most immediately the pending cut to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (see related story).

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STATE ISSUES
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Oregon State Attorney General Files Settlement Agreements with Hearing Aid Specialists
Oregon state Attorney General Hardy Myers filed settlement agreements with two Portland hearing aid specialists and a Portland hearing aid company for continuing to use a misleading term of credential after being warned by authorities to cease using it. "Oregon consumers need to be able to trust the credentials used by professionals in their advertising," Myers said. "Although these individuals had received advanced training, it did not give them the right to use a title that is similar to another and carries the potential for confusion."

Investigators from the Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, which licenses audiologists, and the Oregon Department of Justice found that the licensed hearing aid specialists, after taking a 13-weekend class, began using the term "audioprosthologist" on the company's website, in newspaper and yellow page advertising, in an assumed business name and on certificates hung on their office walls. The two hearing aid specialists continued to use the title of "audioprosthologist" although the Oregon Department of Justice requested they stop.

The requirements to be an audiologist are much more rigorous than to be a hearing aid specialist though some persons hold both licenses. Under the agreements, the parties named in the filing must stop using the term "audioprosthologist" in all forms of media unless the laws of Oregon were to permit it. They cannot use any title similar to audiologist in the services they provide as hearing aid specialists. Brenda Felber, executive director of the Oregon Board of Examiners for Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, said, "The outcome of this case is consistent with the Board's goal of protecting Oregon consumers."

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OTHER NEWS

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Remember the PAC at Renewal Time!
With renewal season just around the corner, it is time to start thinking not only about renewing your Academy membership, but also about renewing your commitment to the continued success of the AAA Inc, PAC. Contributions to the PAC play a critical role in supporting policy goals important to audiologists and the practice of audiology through the support of candidates for elective office; to promote better understanding among elected officials of the unique and important role of audiology in the delivery of high quality health care to patients; and to assist audiologists and others in organizing themselves for effective political action.

With over 10,000 Academy members and growing, it is invaluable that the PAC echoes the strength and visibility of its membership. Remember the PAC at renewal time -- making a contribution (of any size) on your renewal form is the quickest and easiest way to show support for both your PAC and your profession!

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