California leads the world in innovation but can't get hearing aids to deaf kids? | Opinion [The Sacramento Bee]
In 1998, then-Gov.
Newsom may soon get a second chance. A bill mandating insurance coverage is sailing through the Legislature with unanimous support. One big reason for the support is the general understanding among legislators that a state-run program initiated by the Newsom administration to provide these life-changing devices does not appear to be working effectively.
Signing virtually the same bill that he could have four years ago would be an admission by the governor that he had made a mistake. But such an admission would be the human -- and humane -- thing to do.
If he doesn't cut his political losses, Newsom faces a small army of impacted parents who aren't going away. And
"This has been a battle that has played out over many years," said
Janes' wife, Christina, has seared into her memory the moment when a hospital physician described how her newborn son would grow up with a bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, which renders any hushed sound inaudible.
"Twice as likely suicide, half as likely for college," remembers
The Janes have the financial means to afford hearing aids for their son. Jake is "doing great" and starting first grade this month, Christina said. But as the couple has become part of a tight-knit community of parents with the same challenge, they hear of others facing tough financial choices between paying the bills or letting their child hear.
"In our clinic, we see hard-working families who simply cannot afford hearing aids for their child, and we see the speech and language delays that happen when children who need hearing aids can't get them," states Dr.
Ironically decades have passed and
Assembly Bill 598 in 2019, a twin of the current effort, was opposed by the
AB 598 was co-authored by Assemblyman
But with parents like the Janes packing committee rooms, AB 598 made it out of the Legislature without a single no vote.
But the bill never made it to the governor.
Bloom and Allen killed their own creation; they let AB 598 "die" (the proper legislative term) by withdrawing the bill from the fact-checking process known as "engrossing," the final step before legislation is "enrolled" and sent to a governor.
Why? They knew that the governor was going to veto AB 598.
"Essentially it all came down to administration concerns about costs," Allen said in a recent interview.
Bloom, now a judge in
For the legislators, life moved on. But for parent
Newsom to his credit thought at the time that he had a different, better solution. Rather than insurers paying for the hearing aids from patient premiums, taxpayers would through a new state program he would advance in the following year's budget.
True to his word, next year the state
To seek the subsidy, parents would have to find a "participating provider."
This is where the governor's idea has fallen short so far. In
"There weren't many providers that wanted to take it because of the historically low reimbursement rates and the red tape," Marciniak said.
According to the
"As with any new program launch, engagement and onboarding processes for both providers and targeted populations tend to be slow with ramp up until familiarity is gained with the program on all fronts," said health department spokesman
To the program's credit, its online applications portal has options for at least 19 different languages. This may not be for a lack of government trying. It may be that a government-run approach is simply less effective than telling the private insurance sector to cover the device.
Allen voted for SB 635 earlier this year (under new authorship,
The health insurance industry is no longer opposed to the legislation. Instead, it is officially "concerned" about the same cost issue. At the moment, no organization opposes the bill.
SB 635's last real hurdle is in the cost committee, Assembly Appropriations. Its chair is
Will the bill reach Newsom? And what would he do?
"I have developed some skepticism over the years," said Marciniak. And for good reason.
This would be a revealing moment for the governor. He could sign the legislation and admit that his government-run alternative proved to be both more expensive and less effective than private-sector insurance coverage. Or he could rehash the same cost rationale, kill SB 635 just like its predecessors and hope that his state-run program reaches more children.
Meanwhile, every day a child can't hear is precious developmental time that is lost.
(C)2023 The Sacramento Bee. Visit sacbee.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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California leads the world in innovation but can't get hearing aids to deaf kids? | Opinion [The Sacramento Bee]
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