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NEWS

EDUCATION NEWS=20

Families = push for=20 hearing aid bill

Monday, July 9, = 2007=20

By GIOVANNA = FABIANO
STAFF=20 WRITER

Across the state, most parents of hearing-impaired = children=20 are forced to pay out of pocket for hearing aids, but = the high=20 and frequent cost can be crippling to the average = middle-class=20 family.

North Jersey families have been fighting back, = lobbying for=20 a bill that would require insurance companies to = partially=20 cover the cost of hearing aids for children under = 15.

=0A= =0A=

Despite the support of deaf advocacy groups, = education=20 associations and several politicians, a bill known as = "Grace's=20 Law" after Grace Gleba, an 8-year-old Warren County = girl with=20 severe hearing loss, has been stalled in the state = Legislature=20 for nearly eight years.

Prompted by local families struggling with expenses = related=20 to hearing loss, Fair Lawn has become the first North = Jersey=20 community to adopt a resolution in support of the = bill, hoping=20 to place New Jersey on a growing list of states with = health=20 insurance mandates for the hearing impaired. The = states are=20 Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota, Kentucky, Louisiana, = Missouri, Oklahoma and Rhode Island.

Most insurance companies don't pay for hearing aids = at any=20 age, but children often require new devices every few = years at=20 a cost of about $3,000 to $5,000 a pair. Batteries = usually run=20 out every few weeks and new ear molds, at about $150 a = pair,=20 need to be replaced two or three times a year.

Easing = burden=20

=95 Grace's Law would require insurance = companies, the State Health Benefits Plan and = N.J.=20 Family Care to cover expenses incurred in = obtaining=20 medically necessary hearing aids for people 15 = years of=20 age and younger.

=95 Named after Grace Gleba, an = 8-year-old Warren=20 County girl with a severe hearing impairment, = the bill=20 would allow for up to $1,000 in coverage for = hearing=20 aids every 24 months.

=95 The bill has been before the = Assembly=20 Appropriations Committee since last year. It is=20 sponsored by Assemblyman Neil Cohen and Assembly = Speaker=20 Joseph Roberts Jr.

=95 For more information on the bill or = to sign a=20 petition, visit = graceslaw.com.

Mounds of paperwork

Though most low-income residents qualify for = hearing aid=20 coverage through Medicaid, the insurance program does = not=20 typically provide the entire cost, said Ellen Hansen, = a=20 pediatric audiologist at the Summit Speech School for = the=20 Hearing Impaired, which serves and counsels children = from=20 birth to age 5.

In special cases, the school and deaf advocacy = groups can=20 petition the state to assist in paying for children's = hearing=20 aids, but the process of acquiring the proper = approvals can be=20 slow and painstaking.

"It's a wonderful program, but it does take a long = time=20 because of all the paperwork, and we're losing that = critical=20 time when kids should be fitted with hearing aids," = Hansen=20 said.

That said, the majority of middle-class families = don't=20 qualify, she said.

Kathleen Treni, principal of Bergen County's = Secondary=20 Hearing Impaired Program at Midland Park High School, = which=20 serves more than 150 North Jersey families, has = lobbied for=20 Grace's Law through the New Jersey Alexander Graham = Bell=20 Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Treni, = who is=20 deaf, believes hearing aids help children with hearing = loss=20 adapt to the mainstream by providing them with the = necessary=20 language and speech input.

"Hearing aids make the difference between a child = being=20 educationally, socially and, eventually, economically=20 independent or not," Treni said.

Deaf advocacy groups agree, arguing that children = who are=20 not fitted with proper amplification at an early age = often=20 fall behind in the classroom, costing the state = hundreds of=20 thousands of dollars in special needs services.

According to the Division of Deaf and Hard of = Hearing, the=20 socioeconomic and educational effects on children who = are not=20 aided during the critical years of language = development can be=20 catastrophic.

Stuart Pace Jr. is in honors classes in the hearing = impaired program at Midland Park High School, plays on = the=20 high school basketball and baseball teams and juggles = a=20 part-time job. But without the help of hearing aids, = his=20 father says the 16-year-old Fair Lawn boy would be = lost.

Like Stuart, there are 6 million people nationwide = who=20 depend on hearing aids. In New Jersey, 10 percent of = public=20 school children have some form of impairment that = requires=20 amplification devices.

To date, the Paces have spent more than $15,000 on = hearing=20 aids since Stuart, a student in the Secondary Hearing = Impaired=20 Program at Midland Park High School, was first fitted = for the=20 devices at age 3.

"My complaint all along has been that people who = are going=20 through alcohol and drug rehabilitation get coverage, = yet=20 there's no coverage whatsoever for people who have a = physical=20 disability they can't prevent," said Stuart's father, = Stuart=20 Pace Sr., who approached Fair Lawn Councilwoman Jeanne = Baratta=20 about passing a resolution in support of the bill.

Across the state, only Manville, Somerville and = Washington=20 Township, the Glebas' hometown, have passed similar=20 resolutions.

"It's absolutely crucial that he has the hearing = aids,"=20 Pace added.

Jeanine Gleba, the leading advocate for Grace's = Law, began=20 lobbying for hearing aid bills in 1999 after learning = her=20 daughter Grace was severely hearing impaired. She said = hearing=20 aid assistance for children is critical. Today, Grace, = a=20 second-grader who is mainstreamed in a public = elementary=20 school, is a cheerleader who gets straight A's and = reads at a=20 sixth-grade level.

"She wouldn't be in mainstream school or doing any = of these=20 things if she didn't have her hearing aids, but they = are a=20 huge expense," Gleba said.

Hansen, of the Summit School, said forcing parents = to pay=20 out of pocket for hearing aids also defeats the = purpose of the=20 universal newborn screening law, which went into = effect in New=20 Jersey in 2002.

The law requires all newborns to be screened for = hearing=20 loss so they can be fitted for hearing aids = immediately.

"The whole purpose of that law is to diagnose them = early=20 and get hearing aids fitted at three to six months, = but these=20 parents are hit with the fact that their child has = hearing=20 loss and suddenly find out they have to spend four, = five, six=20 thousand dollars out of pocket for hearing aids, which = is a=20 crime," Hansen said.

"The first three years of age is a critical time = for=20 developing speech and language and once you get past = that,=20 it's very hard to make up for lost time," Hansen = said.

While Gleba describes Grace's progress as "a = miracle," she=20 remains a tireless advocate of the law in her child's = name,=20 despite its slow movement in the State House. The bill = passed=20 the full Assembly but remains stalled in the = appropriations=20 committee, Gleba said.

Although hearing aids are deemed a medically = necessary=20 treatment, insurance companies typically categorize = them as=20 personal devices used for comfort or convenience, = Gleba=20 said.

'Huge dollar-saver'

Fair Lawn resident Matthew Ahearn, a former state=20 assemblyman who introduced a similar hearing aid bill = in the=20 1990s, said the state budget committee often doesn't = take=20 long-term cost savings into account.

"It's a great bill and it's gone through various = revisions,=20 but at this point, it needs to get out of = appropriations,"=20 Ahearn said.

"It's a huge dollar-saver over the years in terms = of=20 special education costs, but when it comes to the = budget=20 impact, long-term costs aren't calculated," he = said.

Pace, who has also lobbied for the bill by signing=20 petitions and sending letters to local, county and = state=20 politicians, said he hopes someone in Trenton will = "rise to=20 the challenge to fight the insurance industry."

"My son hasn't let any of this hinder his ability = to do=20 anything, but when hearing aids are $3,000 a pair, you = try to=20 push the limits of how long you use them," Pace = said.

"People should have some help."

E-mail: fabiano@northjersey.com

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