(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, no person shall engage in the sale of or practice of fitting hearing instruments or display a sign or in any other way advertise or represent himself or herself as a person who practices the fitting and sale or dispensing of hearing instruments unless he or she holds an unsuspended, unrevoked hearing instrument specialist license issued by the department as provided in the Hearing Instrument Specialists Practice Act. A hearing instrument specialist license shall confer upon the holder the right to select, fit, and sell hearing instruments. A person holding a license issued under the act prior to August 30, 2009, may continue to practice under such license until it expires under the terms of the license.

Terms Used In Nebraska Statutes 38-1509

  • Company: shall include any corporation, partnership, limited liability company, joint-stock company, joint venture, or association. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Hearing instrument: means any wearable instrument or device designed for or offered for the purpose of aiding or compensating for impaired human hearing and any parts, attachments, or accessories, including earmold, but excluding batteries and cords. See Nebraska Statutes 38-1504
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Person: shall include bodies politic and corporate, societies, communities, the public generally, individuals, partnerships, limited liability companies, joint-stock companies, and associations. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801
  • Person shall: include bodies politic and corporate, societies, communities, the public generally, individuals, partnerships, limited liability companies, joint-stock companies, and associations. See Nebraska Statutes 49-801

(2) A licensed audiologist who maintains a practice pursuant to (a) licensure as an audiologist, or (b) a privilege to practice audiology under the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Interstate Compact, in which hearing instruments are regularly dispensed, or who intends to maintain such a practice, shall be exempt from the requirement to be licensed as a hearing instrument specialist.

(3) Nothing in the act shall prohibit a corporation, partnership, limited liability company, trust, association, or other like organization maintaining an established business address from engaging in the business of selling or offering for sale hearing instruments at retail without a license if it employs only properly licensed natural persons in the direct sale and fitting of such products.

(4) Nothing in the act shall prohibit the holder of a hearing instrument specialist license from the fitting and sale of wearable instruments or devices designed for or offered for the purpose of conservation or protection of hearing.