Audiology Licensure Change Passes

 Senate Bill 308 (Senator Crowell) and House Bill 780 (Representative Wasson) both passed this session.  These bills include language that adds hearing instrument dispensing to the audiology scope of practice and eliminates the need for audiologists to hold two licenses to dispense hearing aids in Missouri.  These bills also raise the entry-level education standards for Hearing Instrument Specialists to an associate degree in incremental steps over time.   

Passage of these bills was the result of the Missouri Speech Language Hearing Association, Missouri Academy of Audiology, Missouri Hearing Society, the Board of Healing Arts, and audiologists and hearing instrument specialists all working together toward a common goal of improving both professions.  With passage of these bills, Missouri joins 31 other states that allow audiologists to dispense hearing instruments under their audiology license taking another step forward toward profession autonomy for audiology with one license for a full scope of practice.   

With elimination of the dual licensure requirement, audiologists can expect the fee for renewal of their audiology license to increase to cover the costs of the expanded scope of practice.  The new fee will not exceed the amount currently paid in combined audiology and hearing instrument dispensing

Legislative Updates

Senate Bill 16 requires children entering kindergarten or 1st grade in a public elementary school to have a comprehensive vision examination by an optometrist or physician and schools will be required to report the examination findings to the Department of Health.  Schools will also be required to conduct vision screening for first and third grade students, notify parents if their child fails the screen, collect parent’s acknowledgement of the failed screen and submit the screening results to the Department of Health.

House Bill 181 requires manufacturers and publishers of electronic video instructional materials (CD, DVD, videotape, film, etc) offered for adoption or sale in Missouri to supply those materials with either open or closed captions.  

Senate Bill 112 removes the sunset on special education for students 3-21 and for early intervention services for children birth to 3; authorizes a child-find pilot in the Greater St. Louis First Steps service area; and changes the term “handicapped” in special education statute (3-21) “children with disabilities” to align the language with IDEA. 

Senate Bill 577 revises the Medicaid program.  The bill does align state law with the recent court decision that restored comprehensive Medicaid coverage of durable medical equipment (DME) for adults.  DME includes augmentative communication devices, but does not include hearing aids under current Medicaid regulations.  Senate Bill 577 does not restore coverage of hearing aids for adults.  For adults, Medicaid will continue to only cover hearing aids for pregnant women, individuals who are blind, and those residing in nursing homes.