1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Medicare Audiologist Access and Services Act of 2019 . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Individuals with mild hearing loss are 3 times more likely to experience a fall, and falls are the leading cause of fatal injury for Americans over 65. (2) Seniors with hearing loss are more likely to develop cognitive problems and experience cognitive decline up to 40 percent faster than those without hearing loss. (3) Untreated hearing loss can lead to depression, anxiety, and social isolation. (4) Timely access to diagnosis and treatment for hearing and vestibular conditions can improve outcomes for beneficiaries and reduce overall cost of care. (5) Licensed audiologists in all 50 States and the District of Columbia are health care professionals that are trained in the diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of individuals with hearing, balance, and related disorders. (6) The Medicare program covers a range of hearing health services, including diagnostic and therapeutic services. However, Medicare will only reimburse audiologists for a narrow set of diagnostic services—even when Medicare-covered treatment services are in the scope of practice of audiologists. Medicare also requires patients to receive a physician order before even receiving diagnostic services from audiologists in order for those services to be covered by the Medicare program. (7) The Department of Defense Medical Health System, the Veterans Health Administration, the Office of Personnel Management (through many of its Federal Employees Benefit plans), and many Medicaid and private health plans provide patients direct access to audiologists and do not condition reimbursement on referral by a physician. (8) The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine issued a report, entitled Hearing Health Care for Adults: Priorities for Improving Access and Affordability, which recommended that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services examine pathways for enhancing access to assessment for and