Medicare Hearing Aid Coverage Act of 2025
Key claim: The Medicare Hearing Aid Coverage Act of 2025 would allow Medicare to cover hearing aids and related examinations and direct GAO to study hearing-aid assistance programs.
Abstract
(HR500 · 119th Congress) Medicare Hearing Aid Coverage Act of 2025 This bill allows for Medicare coverage of hearing aids and related examinations. The Government Accountability Office must study programs that provide assistance for hearing aids and related examinations for individuals with hearing loss. Latest action (2025-01-16): Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Why this matters
Medicare has statutorily excluded hearing aids since 1965, leaving beneficiaries to pay out-of-pocket or rely on Medicare Advantage supplemental benefits of variable generosity. Adding hearing aids and related exams as a Medicare-covered benefit would change what tens of millions of seniors pay for a high-cost device category tied to falls, cognitive decline, and social isolation. The GAO study component signals interest in benchmarking against existing federal, state, and private hearing-aid assistance programs before or alongside implementation.