Senate Bill No. 470
(By Senator Barnes)
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[Introduced February 4, 2010; referred to the Committee on
Government Organization.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §30-26-2 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to requiring licensed physicians
who engage in the practice of dispensing hearing aids to also
have a hearing aid dealer's and fitter's license.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §30-26-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 26. HEARING-AID DEALERS AND FITTERS.
§30-26-2. Engaging in practice of hearing-aid dealer or trainee
without license prohibited; exceptions.
(a) Except as provided in subsections (b), (c) and (d) hereof
no person, shall on or after the effective date of this article,
engage in the practice of dealing in or fitting of hearing aids,
either as a hearing-aid dealer, fitter or as a trainee, nor shall
any person advertise or assume any such practice, without first being licensed or otherwise qualified under the provisions of this
article, nor shall any duly licensed physician engage in the
practice of dispensing hearing aids without first being licensed
under the provisions of this article.
(b) If the applicant is a partnership, trust, association,
corporation or other like organization, the application, in
addition to such other information as the board may require, shall
be accompanied by an application for a license for each person,
whether owner or employee, of such applicant who serves in the
capacity of a hearing-aid dealer or fitter, or shall contain a
statement that such applications for all such persons are submitted
separately. No partnership, trust, association, corporation or
other like organization shall permit any unlicensed person to sell
hearing aids or to engage in the practice of dealing in or fitting
of hearing aids.
(c) This article is not intended to prevent any person who is
not licensed under this article from engaging in the practice of
measuring human hearing for the purpose of selection of hearing
aids, provided such person or organization employing such person
does not sell hearing aids or accessories thereto, except in the
case of earmolds to be used only for the purpose of audiologic
evaluation.
State or local governmental organizations or agencies and
organizations chartered as not-for-profit shall not be eligible for
licensure to fit and dispense hearing aids.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require licensed
physicians who engage in the practice of dispensing hearing aids to
also have a hearing aid dealer's and fitter's license.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added