GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2009

H                                                                                                                                                   2

HOUSE BILL 1705*

Committee Substitute Favorable 6/9/10

Short Title:        Consumer Guidelines for Hearing Aid Purchases.	(Public)
Sponsors:
Referred to:

May 17, 2010

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT to require the Hearing Aid Dealers and Fitters Board to coordinate a task Force that will develop guidelines for consumers to use when purchasing a hearing aid, as recommended by the North Carolina Study Commission on Aging.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.(a)  The Hearing Aid Dealers and Fitters Board shall coordinate a task force to develop recommended guidelines for consumers seeking information and assistance in the treatment of hearing loss and the purchase of a hearing aid.  The task force shall include representatives of the NC Hearing Aid Dealers and Fitters Board; the Division of Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Department of Health and Human Services; the Consumer Protection Division, Office of the Attorney General; a practicing audiologist, as recommended by the NC Board of Examiners for Speech and Language Pathologists and Audiologists; a physician who treats patients with hearing loss, as recommended by the NC Medical Board; and may include other interested stakeholders.

SECTION 1.(b)  The Hearing Aid Dealers and Fitters Board shall report the findings and recommendations of the task force, along with recommendations on methods to disseminate hearing aid purchasing guidelines, to the North Carolina Study Commission on Aging on or before October 15, 2010.

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.