Policy

Age-related hearing loss is a growing public health issue that has real consequences for families, communities and government budgets. We need our elected leaders to take notice and take action!&

Watch a video on Age-Related Hearing Loss: A Growing Public Health Issue to get first person accounts on why it isn't just a personal health issue, it's a public health issue.

Get involved

We will be actively involved in pushing the federal officials, the Governor, the Minnesota legislature, and state agencies to make age-related hearing loss a priority. To succeed, we will need YOU and other citizens from across the state to join our efforts, keep abreast of the issues, and contact their local legislators.

Require Health Insurance Coverage for Audiological Counseling

Audiologists should be able to provide counseling about no and low-cost solutions for treating age-related hearing loss, including communication strategies, assistive listening devices and visual and tactile alerting devices. Health insurance should cover the cost of audiological counseling, which is a fraction of the medical expenses resulting from conditions linked to age-related hearing loss. These conditions include dementia, falls and depression, often resulting in hospitalizations. Call your state legislator and ask that they support a mandate for insurance companies to cover audiological counseling.

Contact Your State Legislators: The state has 67 Senate districts and 134 House districts. Who represents you is decided by where you live.

1. To find your legislator, type your address into the Secretary of State's polling place; finder.

2. The bottom of the page will list your MN Senate and MN House district numbers.

3. Go to the Minnesota Legislature's website. On the left-hand side of the page, type your district number into the House and Senate boxes to find your legislator's name and contact information.
Medicare Should Cover Hearing Health Care

Medicare is legally prohibited from providing coverage for hearing health care. This needs to change! Read more in this opinion piece from Drs. Heather Whitson and Frank Lin.

Hearing and Vision Care for Older Adults Sensing a Need to Update Medicare Policy. Heather E. Whitson, MD, MHS; Frank R. Lin, MD, PhD;
Viewpoint, November 5, 2014, JAMA. 2014;312(17):1739-1740. doi:10.1001/jama.2014.13535.
The Medicare Hearing Aid Coverage Act of 2015 (H.R. 1653) has been introduced in the US House of Representatives. Call your Representative and ask them to support it. Call Minnesota's US Senators and ask them to introduce a similar bill.
Contact Congress:
Everyone in Minnesota has the same two U.S. Senators: Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken. Call and ask them to introduce a bill to require Medicare to cover hearing screenings, hearing tests and hearing aids.
US Senator Amy Klobuchar 888-224-9043
US Senator Al Franken 202-224-0044

The state is divided into 8 US House districts. Who represents you is decided by where you live.

Call your Representative and ask them to support the Medicare Hearing Aid Coverage Act of 2015 (H.R. 1653).
First District Representative Tim Walz 877-846-9259
Second District Representative John Kline 888-808-6644
Third District Representative Erik Paulsen 202-225-6351
Fourth District Representative Betty McCollum 651-224-9191 - Please thank her for signing on as a co-author of the bill.
Fifth District Representative Keith Ellison 612-522-1212
Sixth District Tom Emmer 202-225-2331
Seventh District Colin Peterson 202-225-1593
Eighth District Rick Nolan 202-225-0699
Age-Related Hearing Loss Task Force

The Minnesota Commission of the Deaf, DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing convened a task force of health care professionals, consumer organizations, state agencies, the insurance industry and policy makers to study the impact of age-related hearing loss and make recommendations for the state to address this growing issue. The task force recommendations are available for the public to access. Study the recommendations and see how you can incorporate them.