Dear Fellow U.S. Armed Services Veteran: We appreciate the opportunity to share with you some important information about an issue facing many of our nation s Veterans hearing loss. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the two the most prevalent service-connected disabilities for Veterans are tinnitus and hearing loss, and the need for hearing healthcare for Veterans grows every day. Unfortunately, whether for our newest or aging Veterans, the challenge of hearing loss is all too often compounded by difficulties faced by Veterans in accessing hearing healthcare services through the VA. As you may know, the VA, despite their best efforts, is very often unable to meet Veterans hearing healthcare needs in a timely, convenient and quality fashion due to a substantial backlog. Many Veterans must deal with unreasonable wait times for appointments and follow-up care or are forced to travel lengthy distances to access care at the nearest VA clinic. Further, many Veterans also must deal with insufficient care or training on using hearing aids. Consequently, Veterans across the country have given up on the VA, opting instead to pay out of pocket for hearing aid services. An initiative called Fit to Serve is working to address the shortcomings of VA hearing healthcare services. Developed by the International Hearing Society (IHS), Fit to Serve aims to alleviate these problems and reduce the backlog at the VA by adding hearing aid specialists to the VA hearing healthcare team and lift restrictions in order to increase Veterans abilities to access care through hearing aid specialists in their local communities. This change would greatly reduce the wait times for appointments and increase the quality of care for Veterans. Further, because there are thousands of hearing aid specialists throughout the country, including in rural areas, many Veterans would no longer need to travel great distances to obtain hearing aid services. Timely hearing healthcare services, located close by, would also make important follow-up care easier for all Veterans. Fit to Serve is fighting to improve hearing healthcare for Veterans across America. As Veterans, we feel it is the right thing to do for the men and women who have selflessly dedicated themselves to our nation. We hope that you will take a moment to learn more about Fit to Serve, and more importantly, consider lending your voice to the fight to improve Veterans healthcare. The enclosed packet has information about the Fit to Serve campaign and how you can get involved. You can learn also more at www.fittoserve.us. Thank you for your time, your service, and your help. Thomas Higgins, NJ, U.S. Navy (Ret.) Tim Toomey, AL, U.S. Army (Ret.) Arnold Schertzer, MA U.S. Air Force Reserves (Ret.) Kenneth Lanzalaco, LA U.S. Army Special Forces (Ret.)
HOW YOU CAN HELP Veterans can support this important effort in several ways: 1) Write to your Members of Congress* Let them know that the VA hearing healthcare system is not meeting the needs of Veterans and that you support H.R. 353/S. 564 so that hearing aid specialists can help Veterans by providing hearing tests and hearing aid services. Include your personal experiences with the VA, which may relate to long wait times to get appointments, difficulties traveling to the closest VA audiology clinic, poor hearing aid programming and follow up services, or other shortcomings of the current system. In just a minute or two, you can easily send an email to your Members of Congress using the Fit to Serve website at www.fittoserve.us. You can also contact them through the Capitol Switchboard, 202-224-3121, or their individual websites, which can be found through www.house.gov for U.S. Representatives and www.senate.gov for U.S. Senators. 2) Veteran Service Organization (VSO) Outreach* Urge your local and national Veterans groups to get involved and support Fit to Serve. We are seeking endorsements from local and state Veterans organizations; as well as individual and group outreach to the national VSO offices to urge their support for reform of the existing policies. 3) Write to the Department of Veterans Affairs* Let the VA know that Veterans deserve better and that you support 1) the inclusion of hearing aid specialists as VA providers of hearing evaluations and 2) the elimination of restrictive policies that limit Veterans access to hearing aid specialists for hearing aid services. 4) Media Outreach* Spread the word by sending a letter to the editor of your local or statewide paper, or to military- or veteran-oriented magazines or other publications. If your local Veterans organization is interested in supporting Fit to Serve as an endorser, please contact us at info@fittoserve.us or (734) 522-7200, ext. 226. * Please send a copy of any communications sent to Members of Congress, the VA, VSOs or media to info@fittoserve.us or International Hearing Society, 16880 Middlebelt Road, Suite 4, Livonia, MI 48154, so we can follow up with your legislators, the Veterans Service Organizations, and the VA in Washington, DC. Thank you for your support!
Hearing Aid Specialists: Ready to Serve America s Veterans Fit To Serve is a grassroots campaign dedicated to improving the hearing healthcare system for America s Veterans by ensuring every Veteran has timely and convenient access to high-quality hearing services. Despite the Department of Veterans Affairs efforts, the volume of Veterans in need of hearing healthcare has surpassed the VA s ability to provide adequate services. Currently, Veterans can only access hearing-related services through VA audiologists or contracted audiologists, with rare exception. As a result Veterans all too often face: Long wait times for appointments Extensive time spent traveling to the nearest VA clinic Limited follow-up service H.R. 353/S. 564 seeks to enable the VA to hire hearing specialists internally and encourage the VA to increase use of hearing aid specialists in its contract network, which would in turn help Veterans use their VA benefits to obtain convenient and timely hearing health services. Hearing aid specialists stand ready to provide these critical services alongside the professionals at the VA. Working together, we can make sure that America s Veterans get the hearing healthcare they deserve. Facts According the Department of Veterans Affairs, the most prevalent service-connected disabilities for veterans receiving federal compensation in 2013 were tinnitus and hearing loss According to the VA, the number of outpatient audiology visits rose 36% from 2009 to 2012 The number of hearing aids ordered per year by the VA increased 39% between 2009 and 2012 Studies have shown that hearing loss can lead to depression, strain relationships, heighten stress, cause fatigue, reduce income potential, contribute to other health conditions such as dementia or Alzheimer s, and make it difficult to maintain a career Aging Veterans who suffered hearing loss in previous service periods are experiencing degenerative hearing at increasing rates, causing greater reliance on the VA for hearing care The Veteran Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014 (H.R. 3230) did not address hearing and other ancillary healthcare services, making passage of legislation still critically important www.fittoserve.us info@fittoserve.us Find us on Facebook or Twitter @ihsfittoserve
Support H.R. 353/S. 564 to permit hearing aid specialists to provide hearing aid services to Veterans as VA providers. The Problem Due to the high demand for services, many Veterans are waiting months to secure an appointment with the VA to obtain hearing aids or receive hearing aid related services like adjustments and repairs Many Veterans, including those in rural areas, have to drive several hours to obtain services at the closest VA facility that offers audiological services, oftentimes for a service that can be completed in less than 30 minutes time. This is especially difficult for those Veterans who have mobility or other health challenges, and/or lack proper transport. For Veterans who attend a VA appointment, due to provide time constraints, often Veterans are not receiving proper hearing aid training on basic functions, their hearing aids are not programmed appropriately, or they do not receive adequate follow-up care The VA s sole reliance on audiologists to provide hearing aid services will continue to restrict access, perhaps even more so in the future, as audiology programs are not producing enough students to meet the demand and many audiologists are leaving or considering leaving the field The Solution: Hearing Aid Specialists 9,000+ hearing aid specialists stand ready to provide Veterans with comprehensive hearing healthcare, including: hearing testing, determining candidacy for hearing aids, performing fittings, providing hearing aid recommendations, performing adjustments and repairs, taking ear impressions for ear molds, providing counseling and aural rehabilitation Hearing aid specialists are licensed and regulated by each state, and have undergone the appropriate training processes, which typically includes successful completion of a: 1-2 year apprenticeship training period, 13-month distance learning course, comprehensive written psychometric examination to test their knowledge and competency, practical examination to test clinical competency, and test of related state and federal laws The hearing aid specialist field is adding 800-1000 new professionals each year, growth that can offset the diminishing number of audiologists Hearing healthcare services could be quickly and effectively offered to Veterans through IHS members serving as VA contractors, as they are located in rural and urban settings, cover most parts of the United States, and the vast majority perform home visits 113 th Congress H.R.3508/S.2311 supporters include AMVETS, American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (S.2311 only), Blinded Veterans Association, Business Coalition for Fair Competition, Children of Vietnam Veterans Health Alliance, International Hearing Society, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, National Medical Association, VetsFirst, and many state and local organizations; Additional 114 th Congress Supporters include: National Guard Association of the United States, Paralyzed Veterans of America, The Retired Enlisted Association, Veterans Health Council, Vietnam Veterans of America *denotes Fit to Serve founding organization www.fittoserve.us info@fittoserve.us Find us on Facebook or Twitter @ihsfittoserve
SAMPLE LETTERS Sample Letter #1: To U.S. Representative/U.S. Senators Subject: Support H.R. 353/S. 564, Better Access to VA Hearing Healthcare Dear Sir/Madam: I am writing to you to urge you to support H.R. 353/S. 564, the Veterans Access to Hearing Health Act of 2015. This bill will help address a current problem many veterans are having with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Like me, many of my fellow Veterans with hearing loss have experienced long wait times for appointments, trouble getting timely and adequate follow up care, are often traveling too long a distance to the closest VA, or leave an appointment with questions and concerns. Several of my friends have even given up on the VA and use their local hearing aid specialist, even if they have to pay out of their own pocket. Typically, they can get almost immediate appointments at a more convenient location than the VA. Hearing loss is a widespread disability for Veterans, and causes many of us a great deal of difficulty in our lives. Having to deal with a hearing health care system that does not meet our needs only adds to the stress and frustration. [ADD PERSONAL STORY] There is, however, a change that you can help achieve that could, in short order, improve the lives of thousands of Veterans facing hearing challenges. A change in the law, through H.R. 353/S. 564, and VA policy to allow hearing aid specialists to provide hearing tests and hearing aid services would help Veterans like me access the support of hearing aid specialists in my community and more timely services at the VA itself. This would give Veterans the chance to get their hearing health care needs met sooner, and closer, by trained professionals. Again, I encourage you to support H.R. 353/S. 564 to ensure all of America s Veterans get convenient, quality hearing health care. Sincerely, Name, U.S. Navy Veteran Address Phone number
Sample Letter #2: To U.S. Representative/U.S. Senators Subject: VA Hearing Healthcare Needs Improvement; Support H.R. 353/S. 564 Dear Sir/Madam: As you may know, the Veteran population often relies on the VA for assistance in many areas of life, including healthcare. One of the more common medical needs is hearing loss disability. What you may not know is that people such as myself with hearing loss who live in rural areas have a very hard time accessing the VA. As I have gotten older it is more and more difficult to make the three hour drive to the closest VA clinic. Often times, I will have a short, 15-minute appointment for my hearing aids that will turn into a 7 or 8 hour day after all the driving if I take VA transportation. Sometimes a friend or relative will drive me, but that is not a solution because it is inconvenient for both them and me. Although the VA has been helpful with their services, distance is becoming a deterrent and I find myself more often paying out of pocket to receive more local assistance with my hearing disability. As more Veterans grow older, these problems will become more apparent. For myself and other Veterans, I believe a solution to this problem would be to lift restrictions currently in place and allow hearing aid specialists to provide hearing healthcare services, through passage of H.R. 353/S. 564. Allowing Veterans to access the support of hearing aid specialists at the VA and in their local communities could significantly reduce wait as well as travel times while also improving the hearing health care that Veterans receive. I encourage you to support H.R. 353/S. 564 and get the VA to make the necessary changes in policy to help all Veterans get quality, timely hearing health care. Sincerely, U.S. Army Veteran Address Phone number Sample Letter #3: To Veteran Service Organization Subject: Support H.R. 353/S. 564 to improve hearing healthcare services Dear (insert Veteran Service Organization [VSO] name), I understand there is a bill being considered in Congress, H.R. 353/S. 564, that could help Veterans like me obtain more timely and convenient hearing healthcare. I ask that [fill in VSO Name] please support this bill.
Despite the passage of H.R. 3230, the Veteran Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014, I continue to have to wait months to secure an appointment with my closest VA clinic and when I need a repair done on my hearing aids, I am told to wait for an appointment at the VA or to mail my hearing aids to Denver. There are qualified hearing aid specialists in my local community who can help me now. I don t want to have to wait, and I shouldn t have to. When I do go the VA, oftentimes it take the whole day to get in to see the audiologist and then the appointment may only last 15-20 minutes. The last time I went to the VA, I came home and I will still having a problem with the programming on my hearing aids, so I went to see my local hearing aid specialist who was able to fix the problem in just 20 minutes. While I value the VA and have had many positive experiences, I get the feeling that the audiologists are overworked and could use help. If the VA were to employ hearing aid specialists to help with hearing tests and adjustments, that could really make the system more efficient. Many of our newer Veterans are of working age and are facing multiple challenges with reintegration, including finding meaningful employment. Hearing is essential to not only success in one s job, but securing a job in the first place. For other Veterans, our hearing is our lifeline to staying connected to the world, including our friends and family, as well as mental agility. For these reasons, I ask that you please support H.R. 353/S. 564. Sincerely, Name, U.S. Marine Corps Veteran Address Phone number