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New Jersey Politics

Bill to mandate hearing aid funds for kids advances

Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Last Updated Wednesday January 30, 2008, PST 5:55
AM

BY GIOVANNA FABIANO

STAFF WRITER

TRENTON -- A bill that would help cover the cost of hearing aids for
children 15 and younger was passed by the Senate Commerce Committee on
Monday, bringing it a step closer to becoming a state law.

Named "Grace's Law" after Grace Gleba, an 8-year-old Warren County girl
with severe hearing loss, the bill would require health insurance
companies to provide $1,000 in coverage for hearing aids every 24
months.

Jeanine Gleba, the leading advocate for Grace's Law, began lobbying for
hearing aid bills in 1999 after learning that her daughter Grace was
severely hearing impaired. Today, Grace, a third-grader in a public
elementary school, is a cheerleader who gets straight A's, her mother
said.

"No hearing aid bill has been posted on the Senate side for the last 10
years, so it's definitely a step in the right direction," Gleba said
Tuesday.

"Hopefully, it doesn't get stalled again and it will continue to move,"
Gleba said.

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

"No child should go without the benefits of a hearing aid because their
parents' insurance refuses to pay," said the bill's sponsor, Sen. Barbara
Buono, D-Middlesex.

"If not treated at an early age, hearing loss can impede speech,
language and cognitive development, which can, in turn, lead to the need
for costly special education services later on in life," Buono said.

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

The bill, which passed 3-0 in the Senate Commerce Committee, now sits
before the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, which is headed by
Buono. If it passes, it will go to the full Senate for approval before
heading to the Assembly.

Gleba and several deaf advocacy groups around the state are hoping to
place New Jersey on a growing list of states with health insurance
mandates for the hearing impaired: Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and Rhode Island. Last year, Fair
Lawn became the first North Jersey community to pass a resolution in
support of Grace's Law, in response to several families struggling with
expenses related to hearing loss.

TRENTON -- A bill that would help cover the cost of hearing aids for
children 15 and younger was passed by the Senate Commerce Committee on
Monday, bringing it a step closer to becoming a state law.

Named "Grace's Law" after Grace Gleba, an 8-year-old Warren County girl
with severe hearing loss, the bill would require health insurance
companies to provide $1,000 in coverage for hearing aids every 24
months.

Jeanine Gleba, the leading advocate for Grace's Law, began lobbying for
hearing aid bills in 1999 after learning that her daughter Grace was
severely hearing impaired. Today, Grace, a third-grader in a public
elementary school, is a cheerleader who gets straight A's, her mother
said.

FAST FACTS

* Grace's Law would require insurance companies, the State Health
Benefits Plan and New Jersey Family Care to cover expenses incurred in
obtaining medically necessary hearing aids for people age 15 and
younger.

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

* For more information on the bill, visit
graceslaw.com.

"No hearing aid bill has been posted on the Senate side for the last 10
years, so it's definitely a step in the right direction," Gleba said
Tuesday.

"Hopefully, it doesn't get stalled again and it will continue to move,"
Gleba said.

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

"No child should go without the benefits of a hearing aid because their
parents' insurance refuses to pay," said the bill's sponsor, Sen. Barbara
Buono, D-Middlesex.

"If not treated at an early age, hearing loss can impede speech,
language and cognitive development, which can, in turn, lead to the need
for costly special education services later on in life," Buono said.

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

The bill, which passed 3-0 in the Senate Commerce Committee, now sits
before the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, which is headed by
Buono. If it passes, it will go to the full Senate for approval before
heading to the Assembly.

Gleba and several deaf advocacy groups around the state are hoping to
place New Jersey on a growing list of states with health insurance
mandates for the hearing impaired: Connecticut, Maryland, Minnesota,
Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma and Rhode Island. Last year, Fair
Lawn became the first North Jersey community to pass a resolution in
support of Grace's Law, in response to several families struggling with
expenses related to hearing loss.

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