PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.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.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Mar 6, 2025
Hearing Device Coverage Clarification Act
This bill requires the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to specify that fully implanted active middle ear hearing devices are prosthetics (not hearing aids) and are covered under Medicare.
People & committees
Rep. Fischbach, Michelle [R-MN-7] · R–MN
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
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.
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.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Oct 2, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-03-06 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed Hearing Device Coverage Clarification Act would require the agency that administers Medicare and Medicaid to clarify that fully implanted active middle ear hearing devices are outside a specified hearing-aid coverage exclusion. This concerns coverage for people using those implants. The agency would have to issue the clarification within 60 days after enactment.
This Act may be cited as the Hearing Device Coverage Clarification Act.
Not later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services shall clarify that fully implanted active middle ear hearing devices are prosthetics that are not subject to the hearing aid coverage exclusion under section 1862(a)(7) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395y(a)(7)).
The proposal would direct the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to treat fully implanted active middle ear hearing devices as prosthetics for purposes of the cited exclusion. Its wording specifically covers fully implanted devices, rather than hearing devices generally.
the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services shall clarify that fully implanted active middle ear hearing devices are prosthetics that are not subject to the hearing aid coverage exclusion under section 1862(a)(7) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395y(a)(7)).
The bill would use the definition of “prosthetic” in an existing federal regulation. It does not reproduce that definition.
The term prosthetic has the meaning given such term in section 414.202 of title 42, Code of Federal Regulations.
The supplied actions snapshot, updated October 2, 2026, records introduction in the House on March 6, 2025, and referral that day to the Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means committees for consideration of provisions within their respective jurisdictions.
Source snapshot updated 2026-10-02T08:06:12Z.
2025-03-06: Introduced in House
2025-03-06: 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.
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-03-06. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
Findings to examine
The supplied introduced text contains a narrow, device-specific coverage exception central to the proposal. This classification does not assess its merits.
The proposed exception targets coverage for people using fully implanted active middle ear hearing devices: those devices would be classified as prosthetics outside the specified hearing-aid coverage exclusion. The text does not extend this treatment to hearing devices generally.
shall clarify that fully implanted active middle ear hearing devices are prosthetics that are not subject to the hearing aid coverage exclusion under section 1862(a)(7) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395y(a)(7)).
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Oct 2, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI