Dear Editor:

I have been a licensed hearing instrument specialist since the 1980's, and have been licensed in four states during my career.  I have served as an IHS Governor, a Utah chapter president (twice), and am hearing impaired. I offer these comments about your support for encouraging passage of the hearing aid tax credit by discussing it with patients as, well as seeking notification of it through various media.

1. Passage of this bill will be helpful to those who need help with the investment cost of hearing instruments
2. There is no certainty that this bill will pass in the near or long term future
3. The decision to purchase hearing instruments is elective, not seen as necessary at a given point in a patient's life
4. Prospective patients learning of this proposed law will be inclined to wait for its passage before purchasing hearing instruments.
5. The delay mentioned in #4 will continue until it is passed, or indefinitely until the public believes it will never be passed.

In the early 90's, when 60 Minutes and others ran exposes on our industry, we saw business drop to extraordinary levels......many businesses closed up. This drop lasted close to 2 years.

I would argue that the concept of a $1,000 benefit being passed by Washington is a tremendous argument for the reluctant patient to delay purchasing hearing instruments, and for how long? Who knows...but it would be another reason to hold off.

Passage of this bill at this time, when our federal deficits are soaring, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security are in dire straights, cannot be looked on optimistically.

However, making our target market aware of a possibility that a $1,000 benefit looms over the horizon will cause, in my opinion, the biggest slump we have ever seen, and if the bill lingers, as it has for years, the slump will prove fatal for many hearing professionals.

Picture this scenario. Your patient enters your office, you walk out and greet them, and before escorting them to the testing room, you tell them about the proposed legislation, asking them to support it and contact their representative.  If you think a test will happen after that, you are sadly mistaken.

Robert H. Heygster, BC-HIS
Salt Lake City, Utah