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Family urges Legislature to give each child chance to
hear

Wants state to require companies to help
offset costs of hearing aids.

Monday, May 12, 2008

By LYNN OLANOFF

The Express-Times

WASHINGTON | Bill and Jeanine Gleba have health insurance for
their whole family, but it does nothing to help with their greatest
medical cost.

Hearing aids for their 8-year-old daughter, Grace, run about
$7,000 every three years. Insurance doesn't cover them.

"They don't consider it medically necessary. They consider it a
luxury item," Jeanine Gleba said.

But for the Glebas, the hearing aids are necessary for Grace to
have a normal life. She was born with moderate to severe hearing
loss.

Without hearing aids, the third-grade student could only hear
sounds as loud as a plane overhead. With them, she can hear
everything but some whispers.

"We live in a hearing world -- why should she be denied that
opportunity?" Jeanine Gleba said. "That's what kills you about
insurance companies -- they pay for Viagra. These are wheelchairs
for kids' ears, giving them one of their senses."

The Glebas said they're fortunate to be able to afford the
hearing aids, but they know many families that can't. Children that
could hear and speak if they had hearing aids are resigned to
communicate only through sign language.

The Glebas have long been at the forefront of fighting for
insurance coverage of hearing aids. Seven years ago, a state law
named for Grace was introduced in the state Legislature. Grace's Law
would require insurance companies to cover $1,000 of hearing aid
costs every two years for children 15 and under.

Four years ago, Grace's Law passed the state Assembly, but the
state Senate did not bring it up for consideration. Both an Assembly
and Senate committee have passed the bill this year. Jeanine Gleba
considers that progress.

"I never in a million years imagined we would still be here," she
said. "Unfortunately it becomes a political budget thing,
Republicans versus Democrats. Why kids became a line on a budget is
beyond me."

Increased costs from the bill's enactment would be minimal,
Jeanine Gleba said. The state Mandated Health Benefits Advisory
Commission conducted a financial impact study on Grace's Law and
determined it would raise health insurance premiums 20 cents a month
on average.

State Sen. Leonard Lance, a bill co-sponsor, said he believes it
would save money in the long run by allowing more children to hear
and speak.

"It will lead to adults that will be much more productive in
society," said Lance, R-Warren/Hunterdon.

The Glebas travel to Trenton a couple of times a year to testify
in support of the bill. Grace has also testified. Last month, she
and her classmates at St. Mary's School in Hackettstown wrote
letters to state officials asking them to support the bill.

"Just think about not being able to hear," Grace wrote in her
letter to Gov. Jon S. Corzine. "Some things we can't hear: birds
chirping, a cat meowing and especially hearing a mom say 'I love
you.'"

Reporter Lynn Olanoff can be reached at 908-475-8044 or by e-mail
at [email-masked].

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