Health Care Licenses Committee

Filed: 3/4/2009

 

 


 

 


 
09600HB2444ham001 LRB096 07727 ASK 22774 a

1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 2444

2     AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 2444 by replacing
3 everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4     "Section 5. The Hearing Instrument Consumer Protection Act
5 is amended by changing Sections 3 and 9 and by adding Section
6 9.5 as follows:
 
7     (225 ILCS 50/3)  (from Ch. 111, par. 7403)
8     (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2016)
9     Sec. 3. Definitions. As used in this Act, except as the
10 context requires otherwise:
11     "Department" means the Department of Public Health.
12     "Director" means the Director of the Department of Public
13 Health.
14     "License" means a license issued by the State under this
15 Act to a hearing instrument dispenser.
16     "Licensed Audiologist" means a person licensed as an

 

 

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1 audiologist under the Illinois Speech-Language Pathology and
2 Audiology Practice Act.
3     "National Board Certified Hearing Instrument Specialist"
4 means a person who has had at least 2 years in practice as a
5 licensed hearing instrument dispenser and has been certified
6 after qualification by examination by the National Board for
7 Certification in Hearing Instruments Sciences.
8     "Licensed physician" or "physician" means a physician
9 licensed in Illinois to practice medicine in all of its
10 branches.
11     "Trainee" means a person who is licensed to perform the
12 functions of a hearing instrument dispenser in accordance with
13 the Department rules and only under the direct supervision of a
14 hearing instrument dispenser or audiologist who is licensed in
15 the State.
16     "Board" means the Hearing Instrument Consumer Protection
17 Board.
18     "Hearing instrument" or "hearing aid" means any instrument
19 or device designed, intended, or offered for the purpose of
20 improving a person's hearing and any parts, attachments, or
21 accessories, including earmold. Batteries, cords, and
22 individual or group auditory training devices and any
23 instrument or device used by a public utility in providing
24 telephone or other communication services are excluded.
25     "Practice of fitting, dispensing, or servicing of hearing
26 instruments" means the measurement of human hearing with an

 

 

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1 audiometer, calibrated to the current American National
2 Standard Institute standards, for the purpose of making
3 selections, recommendations, adaptions, services, or sales of
4 hearing instruments including the making of earmolds as a part
5 of the hearing instrument.
6     "Sell" or "sale" means any transfer of title or of the
7 right to use by lease, bailment, or any other contract,
8 excluding wholesale transactions with distributors or dealers.
9     "Hearing instrument dispenser" means a person who is a
10 hearing care professional that engages in the selling, practice
11 of fitting, selecting, recommending, dispensing, or servicing
12 of hearing instruments or the testing for means of hearing
13 instrument selection or who advertises or displays a sign or
14 represents himself or herself as a person who practices the
15 testing, fitting, selecting, servicing, dispensing, or selling
16 of hearing instruments.
17     "Fund" means the Hearing Instrument Dispenser Examining
18 and Disciplinary Fund.
19     "Hearing Care Professional" means a person who is a
20 licensed audiologist, a licensed hearing instrument dispenser,
21 or a licensed physician.
22 (Source: P.A. 89-72, eff. 12-31-95.)
 
23     (225 ILCS 50/9.5 new)
24     (Section scheduled to be repealed on January 1, 2016)
25     Sec. 9.5. Trainees.

 

 

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1     (a) In order to receive a trainee license, a person must
2 apply to the Department and provide acceptable evidence of his
3 or her completion of the required courses pursuant to
4 subsection (e) of Section 8 of this Act, or its equivalent as
5 determined by the Department. A trainee license expires 6
6 months from the date of issue and is non-renewable.
7     (b) A trainee shall perform the functions of a hearing
8 instrument dispenser in accordance with the Department rules
9 and only under the direct supervision of a hearing instrument
10 dispenser or audiologist who is licensed in the State. For the
11 purposes of this Section, "direct supervision" means that the
12 licensed hearing instrument dispenser or audiologist shall
13 give final approval to all work performed by the trainee and
14 shall be physically present anytime the trainee has contact
15 with the client. The licensed hearing instrument dispenser or
16 audiologist is responsible for all of the work that is
17 performed by the trainee.
18     (c) The Department may limit the number of trainees that
19 may be under the direct supervision of the same licensed
20 hearing instrument dispenser or licensed audiologist.".