GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 2011

SESSION LAW 2011-20

HOUSE BILL 60

AN ACT to extend the task Force developing guidelines for consumers to use when purchasing a hearing aid, as recommended by the North Carolina Study Commission on Aging.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  Section 1 of S.L. 2010-121 reads as rewritten:

"SECTION 1.(a)  The Hearing Aid Dealers and Fitters Board shall coordinate a task force to develop recommended guidelines for consumers seeking information and assistance in the treatment of hearing loss and the purchase of a hearing aid.  The task force shall include a licensed practicing fitter and seller of hearing aids, as recommended by the NC Hearing Aid Dealers and Fitters Board; a consumer of hearing aids, as recommended by the Division of Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Department of Health and Human Services; a practicing audiologist, as recommended by the NC Board of Examiners for Speech and Language Pathologists and Audiologists; a physician who treats patients with hearing loss, as recommended by the NC Medical Board; a representative of the Division of Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Department of Health and Human Services; a representative of the Consumer Protection Division, Office of the Attorney General; and may include other interested stakeholders.

"SECTION 1.(b)  The Hearing Aid Dealers and Fitters Board shall report the findings and recommendations of the task force, along with recommendations on methods to disseminate hearing aid purchasing guidelines, to the North Carolina Study Commission on Aging and the Joint Legislative Health Care Oversight Committee on or before November 15, 2010.2010, and on or before November 15, 2011."

SECTION 2.  This act is effective when it becomes law.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 21^st day of March, 2011.

                                                    s/  Walter H. Dalton

                                                         President of the Senate

                                                    s/  Dale R. Folwell

                                                         Speaker Pro Tempore of the House of Representatives

                                                    s/  Beverly E. Perdue

                                                         Governor

Approved 4:52 p.m. this 31^st day of March, 2011