Official Summaries

Hearing Device Coverage Clarification Act

This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to specify that implanted active middle ear hearing devices are prosthetics (not hearing aids) and are covered under Medicare.

Current Full Text

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 983 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 983

  To direct the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 
 Services to clarify that implanted active middle ear hearing devices 
    are prosthetics and are not subject to the hearing aid coverage 
                 exclusion under the Medicare program.


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                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 12, 2025

 Ms. Klobuchar (for herself and Mr. Lankford) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

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                                 A BILL


 
  To direct the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 
 Services to clarify that implanted active middle ear hearing devices 
    are prosthetics and are not subject to the hearing aid coverage 
                 exclusion under the Medicare program.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Hearing Device Coverage 
Clarification Act''.

SEC. 2. ACTIVE MIDDLE EAR IMPLANT COVERAGE.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 
Services shall clarify that implanted active middle ear hearing devices 
are prosthetics that are not subject to the hearing aid coverage 
exclusion under section 1862(a)(7) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1395y(a)(7)).
    (b) Prosthetic Defined.--The term ``prosthetic'' has the meaning 
given such term in section 414.202 of title 42, Code of Federal 
Regulations (or a successor regulation).
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