ROBERTS/CONAWAY BILL REQUIRING INSURERS COVER HEARING AIDS FOR CHILDREN SIGNED INTO LAW

ROBERTS/CONAWAY BILL REQUIRING INSURERS COVER HEARING AIDS FOR CHILDREN SIGNED INTO LAW

(TRENTON) – Legislation Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts, Jr. and Assemblyman Herb Conaway, M.D. sponsored to require health insurance plans provide coverage for hearing aids for children 15-years-old and younger was signed into law today by acting Gov. Richard J. Codey.

Nearly 10 percent of New Jersey’s public school children have either a hearing problem or hearing loss. Many insurance providers cover the cost of annual hearing tests, but few cover purchasing hearing aids – even when the device is deemed medically necessary.

“The treatment of hearing loss in children with hearing aids is not a luxury,” said Roberts (D-Camden). “It’s unimaginable that insurers can effectively deny hearing-impaired children the opportunity to learn to hear, speak and communicate like everyone else.”

The measure (A-1571) is dubbed “Grace’s Law” in honor of Grace Gleba, a New Jersey girl with a severe hearing impairment.

“Hearing aids are a vital first step in treating hearing loss,” said Conaway (D-Burlington), a practicing physician. “Moreover, they can make a major difference in a child’s education and ability to understand speech in the critical early years.”

Under the law, insurers must extend coverage for the purchase of a hearing aid for each ear, when medically necessary, as prescribed by a licensed physician or audiologist. Insurers can limit the benefit to $1,000 per hearing aid for each impaired ear every 24 months.

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