WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 1, 2025) -- The International Hearing Society (IHS) applauds the introduction of legislation (HR 3088) to include Hearing Aid Specialists explicitly as participants in the Community Care program run by the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs. The “Veterans Hearing Health Expansion Act” was introduced on April 30, 2025, by Rep. Tom Barrett (R-MI). The legislation would amend the VA Mission Act of 2018 to specify Hearing Aid Specialists as a provider within the Community Care program.
Barrett emphasized the bill’s importance stating, “Veterans deserve timely, high-quality healthcare no matter where they live. Expanding the VA’s Community Care program to include Hearing Aid Specialists when it already covers other specialists is a commonsense way to achieve that goal. This bill is a simple fix that will make a big difference, especially for rural veterans, by giving them more options and less red tape when it comes to maintaining their hearing health.”
For IHS, this is a major step for our members’ and the Hearing Aid Specialist profession’s ability at large to service a greater population of people within their communities, including veterans who have already been seeking help from Hearing Aid Specialists due to convenience and need. IHS Executive Director Alissa Parady, CAE, stated, “Ensuring our membership can serve veteran patients as integrated VA providers is a high priority and this legislation goes far to address that objective. It’s been more than a decade that IHS has been appealing to the VA to authorize Hearing Aid Specialists to help as community-based VA providers, and to date, the VA has continued to sit on this opportunity to utilize Hearing Aid Specialists to better deliver care to veterans.”
IHS is hopeful Congress will quickly take up this important legislation. It is an important milestone in addressing the problem and better ensuring access to hearing health professionals for veterans no matter where in the country they reside or how close they are to a VA facility.
From left to right: Clell Hamm, BA, BC-HIS; IHS President Michael Andreozzi, BS, BC-HIS; Representative Tom Barrett (R-MI); IHS President-Elect Leanne Polhill, BA, BC-HIS; David Kimbel, BC-HIS; and Nicholas Gray, BC-HIS; in Washington, D.C., on April 30.
About the International Hearing Society: The International Hearing Society (IHS) is a membership association that represents hearing healthcare professionals worldwide, including hearing aid specialists. IHS members are engaged in the practice of performing hearing assessments, selecting, fitting, and dispensing hearing instruments, counseling patients, and providing aftercare services. Founded in 1951, IHS protects, represents, and promotes the interests of hearing healthcare and hearing healthcare professionals. For more information visit www.ihsinfo.org.
