Expand hearing coverage for all children

Senate Bill 5179, with bipartisan sponsorship, addresses an issue about which I have written in these pages. It would extend coverage for hearing disabilities to public employees and those on Medicaid, allowing them to obtain hearing aids. This is a commendable step.

Yet it is regrettable that the bill is not accompanied by a hearing coverage insurance mandate. Without it, were SB 5179 to pass, adults and children on private insurance would still have no right to hearing coverage. Of the 20 states that have a hearing coverage insurance mandate, all require coverage for children, while three also require it for adults. This is as much a civil rights issue as it is a health care concern. Prior efforts to address this injustice in Washington have failed due to an insurance titan that lavishes its campaign donations on both parties. But surely if taxpayers, under SB 5179, are going to pay for hearing aids, profitable insurers should too?

Those with hearing disabilities that do not possess hearing aids are held back in social interaction. The effects of this upon children’s ability to learn should be obvious. And yet, without an insurance mandate, the out-of-pocket costs of hearing aids are too prohibitive for most, especially parents.

For the 2017 session Washington should try to be at least as progressive as Arkansas, and broaden the SB 5179 effort to include a hearing coverage insurance mandate.

This story was originally published March 9, 2017 at 7:01 PM with the headline "Expand hearing coverage for all children."