AUDIOLOGIST LICENSURE - S.B. 206 (S-2): FLOOR ANALYSIS
sans-serif">Senate Bill 206 (Substitute S-2 as reported by the Committee of the Whole)
Sponsor: Senator Shirley Johnson
CONTENT
The bill would create Part 168 (Audiology) within Article 15 of the Public Health Code to:
-- Prohibit a person from engaging in the practice of audiology without being licensed or otherwise authorized by Article 15.
-- Establish an application fee of $120 and an annual license fee of $150.
-- Require licensees to have a master’s or doctoral degree in audiology, and have successfully completed a national exam; and require those with a master’s degree to have at least nine months of supervised clinical experience in audiology.
-- Create the nine-member Michigan Board of Audiology.
-- Regulate certain activities of audiologists, including testing vestibular function, administering audiometric tests, and selling a hearing instrument to a minor.
“Practice of audiology” would mean the nonmedical and nonsurgical application of principles, methods, and procedures related to disorders of hearing, including all of the following:
-- Facilitating the conservation of auditory system function.
-- Developing and implementing hearing conservation programs.
-- Preventing, identifying, and assessing hearing disorders of the peripheral and central auditory system.
-- Selecting, fitting, and dispensing amplification systems, including hearing aids and related devices, and providing training for their use.
-- Providing auditory training, speech reading, consulting, and education to individuals with hearing disorders.
-- Administering and interpreting tests of vestibular function and tinnitus.
-- Routine cerumen (earwax) removal from the external ear.
-- Speech and language screening limited to a pass-fail determination for the purpose of identifying individuals with disorders of communication.
The bill also would allow the use of certain terms, including “audiologist”, “audiometrist”, and “audioprosthologist”, only by a person authorized under Article 15 to use them.
MCL 333.16131 et al. - Legislative Analyst: Suzanne Lowe
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would create a fee structure designed to offset the costs of regulating this profession, and would create an oversight board for the profession. According to the Department of Consumer and Industry Services, there are approximately 400 to 500 practicing audiologists in Michigan. If 400 were to become licensed, the annual licensing revenue would total $60,000. Revenue would be greater in the first year as application fees would generate $48,000. The bill would increase the workload in the Licensing and Complaint Allegation Division within the Bureau of Health Services, but the revenue generated should be sufficient to cover any additional staffing or information technology costs that would be incurred.
Date Completed: 5-30-03 - Fiscal Analyst: Maria TyszkiewiczFloor\sb206 - Bill Analysis @ www.senate.michigan.gov/sfa
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.