Sunset Process - House Health and Insurance Committee. The bill implements the recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies' sunset review and report on the licensing of hearing aid providers by combining the audiologist practice act with the hearing aid provider practice act and:
Continuing the licensing of hearing aid providers for 11 years, to 2031 ( sections 4 and 5 of the bill);
Requiring final agency actions to be appealed directly to the court of appeals ( section 1 );
Requiring a hearing aid provider to be licensed before directly or indirectly selling or negotiating to sell any hearing aid for the hearing impaired ( section 2 );
Prohibiting a person who is not licensed as a hearing aid provider from using any titles that imply the person is qualified as a hearing aid provider ( section 2 );
Removing language specifying that the hearing aid provider practice act does not prohibit an individual from performing tasks that would be permissible if the licensee was not licensed ( section 2 );
Requiring hearing aid providers to maintain a surety bond ( section 2 );
Adding failure to practice according to commonly accepted professional standards to the grounds for discipline ( section 2 );
Authorizing the director of the division of professions and occupations to accept disciplinary action taken by another state, a local jurisdiction, or the federal government as prima facie evidence of misconduct if the basis for the action would be grounds for discipline in Colorado ( section 2 );
Repealing references to the national competency examination and the National Board for Certification in Hearing Instrument Sciences ( section 2 );
Restoring the deceptive trade practice provisions related to the sale of hearing aids ( section 3 ); and
Making conforming amendments necessary to combine the audiologist practice act with the hearing aid provider practice act and make the additional recommended changes ( sections 6 through 32 ).(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)

Read More

Statutes affected:
Preamended PA1 (02/27/2020): 24-34-104, 6-1-701, 12-20-408, 12-230-103, 12-230-104, 12-230-201, 12-230-401
Introduced (01/30/2020): 12-20-408, 24-34-104, 6-1-701, 8-2-111.6, 10-16-104, 12-20-402, 12-20-404, 12-20-406, 12-20-407, 12-30-102, 12-30-103, 12-30-108, 12-210-103, 12-210-104, 12-210-105, 12-210-107, 12-210-108, 12-210-109, 12-210-110, 12-210-111, 12-210-112, 12-210-113, 12-210-114