STATE OF NEW YORK
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4080--A
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
February 26, 2015
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Introduced by Sens. MURPHY, BOYLE, ESPAILLAT, KENNEDY, KRUEGER, LATIMER,
PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be
committed to the Committee on Consumer Protection -- recommitted to
the Committee on Consumer Protection in accordance with Senate Rule 6,
sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to permitting
certain audiologists and hearing aid dispensers to dispense hearing
aids for a profit
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 802 of the general business law, as added by chap-
2 ter 599 of the laws of 1998, subdivision 1 as designated and subdivision
3 2 as added by chapter 301 of the laws of 2000, is amended to read as
4 follows:
5 § 802. Special provisions; not-for-profit sales. 1. [No] Except as
6 provided in subdivision three of this section, no otolaryngologist or
7 other licensed physician who has conducted a medical evaluation of hear-
8 ing loss shall engage in the business of dispensing hearing aids for a
9 profit. No otolaryngologist or other licensed physician who has
10 dispensed a hearing aid shall refuse or fail to perform repairs or
11 service on any hearing aid that they have dispensed.
12 2. Every licensed physician who engages in the dispensing of hearing
13 aids in compliance with the provisions of this section shall be required
14 to comply with sections seven hundred ninety-one, seven hundred ninety-
15 eight and eight hundred three of this article, in addition to compliance
16 with this section.
17 3. An audiologist or hearing aid dispenser licensed under article one
18 hundred fifty-nine of the education law employed by an otolaryngologist
19 who has conducted a medical evaluation of hearing loss may dispense
20 hearing aids for profit provided that the otolaryngologist who has
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00090-05-6
S. 4080--A 2
1 conducted a medical evaluation of hearing loss provides to the patient a
2 list containing the name and office location of five hearing aid dispen-
3 sers with a place of business located within the same county in which
4 the otolaryngologist's office is located and a written statement
5 disclosing that the otolaryngologist's office will receive a profit from
6 the sale of any hearing aid device. In the event that there exist fewer
7 than five hearing aid dispensers within the same county in which the
8 otolaryngologist is located, then the otolaryngologist must provide to
9 the patient a list containing the name and office location of the hear-
10 ing aid dispensers with a place of business within the county in which
11 the otolaryngologist's office is located.
12 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
