8 states require hearing aid assistance for kids

Across the country, some states are starting to acknowledge the critical need for hearing aids, passing legislation to mandate that private insurance companies provide some level of coverage. Seven states have laws mandating help for children, while Kentucky requires coverage for both children and adults.

This year, another 10 states have legislation under consideration and two states with laws already on the books are looking at expanding coverage.

"I think it depends on what area you are in and what kind of pressure you can put on insurance companies," said Rich Harward, the Utah health department's manager for hearing, speech and vision services.

But the insurance industry fights such mandates, arguing that adding a new benefit for some will drive up costs for all.

In Utah, if such a mandate were passed, it would affect just 35 percent of the state's population that has coverage under state regulated plans.

Across the state, there are less than 800 children identified by the state Office of Education as deaf or hearing impaired.

That amounts to just .03 percent of Utah's 2.4 million residents who might be eligible to receive assistance, even if those already on government health-care assistance and plans regulated by the federal government are excluded.

"If it is such a small number of kids, how can that possibly be a problem for state-controlled insurance companies?" questions Judi Hilman, a health policy analyst for Utah Issues, the state's leading public policy and advocacy group for the poor.

"In the case of these children, if we are thinking about long-term sufficiency, their ability to stay out of poverty and their ability to contribute to society, we ought to give them the hearing aids and leave it at that."

In Utah, the effort to help parents afford hearing aids for their children has captured the attention of a health department work group formed to explore options.

Harward said the group grew out of the Utah Newborn Hearing Screening Advisory Committee formed as a result of legislation passed in the late '90s.

"Because this is such a huge issue and the hearing aids are so expensive, this group is looking at ways to help," Harward said.

So far, members have stopped short of a discussion that centers on any insurance mandate.

"We have representation at the table from the major insurance companies who have been willing to discuss this with us," Harward said. "We are hoping to not go down the road of legislation, but rather to arm-twist the companies to first see if they share some obligation."

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E-mail: amyjoi@desnews.com