Scott introduces hearing-aid bill
Molly Shore
When Susan and Tommy Grafman, parents of two deaf sons, were told by
their health insurance provider it would not cover hearing-aid costs,
the couple refused to accept that answer.
The Grafmans contacted state Sen. Jack Scott (D-Burbank),
imploring him to enact legislation mandating that hearing aids be
included in health coverage.
Scott appeared with the Grafmans at Washington Elementary School
on Friday to speak about Senate Bill 174, which would require hearing
aids for deaf and hard-of-hearing youth 18 and younger be covered by
health-insurance companies.
This is the second time Scott has introduced this legislation. He
is the author of a previous bill that cleared the Senate, but got
bogged down in the Assembly’s Health & Human Services Committee in
2002, he said.
The senator said his legislation does not affect the state budget.
“This is simply something that would be covered by ... both HMOs
and PPOs,” Scott said.
The Grafmans recently paid $7,600 for three hearing aids. Their
7-year-old son Jake wears one aid and 4-year-old Justin requires two.
Grafman said she was surprised to learn that the $40,000 cochlear
implant, helping profoundly deaf children hear and speak, is covered
100% by insurance.
However, Jake, who is deaf, and Justin, who is hard-of-hearing,
are not candidates for the implant because their hearing losses are
not considered severe enough, their mother said.
Lisa Mee-Stephenson, spokeswoman for Blue Cross of California,
said all legislation passed adds costs to members’ premiums.
However, she said, the company does offer discounts on hearing
aids through its Healthy Extensions Program.
“Parents may not be aware that they can get some discounts on the
hearing aids, even though every year we send out packages of what’s
new, what’s available,” Mee-Stephenson said.
But Grafman said the answer from her insurance provider was “no”
every time she inquired about hearing-aid coverage.
“And I’ve never gotten anything in the mail to tell me otherwise,”
Grafman said.