Lawsuit argues health insurers illegally discriminate by not covering hearing aids, treatment
The outcome could set a precedent for insurers nationwide.
The law firm Sirianni Youtz Spoonemore Hamburger filed class action suits Monday against
It's the same firm that successfully argued last year that the state's Medicaid program could not refuse coverage for a hepatitis C cure for people whose liver disease hadn't yet advanced to cirrhosis. Thanks to a settlement agreement in that case, all hep C patients covered by Medicaid can now be considered for the life-saving drug.
"By categorically excluding insureds with Hearing Loss of all medical treatment related to their disability (except for cochlear implants), Regence/Kaiser engages in illegal disability discrimination," the two suits say. "The Affordable Care Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by covered entities, including health insurers" like Regence and Kaiser.
That passage refers to the section of the ACA that protects people from discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability, which applies to any health insurer or medical provider that receives any kind of federal funding. The law has been in effect since 2010.
Attorney
"The question that we're raising in this litigation is ... Can insurance companies, under the new anti-discrimination part of the Affordable Care Act, exclude an entire group of people for health coverage to treat their disability?" she said.
Those who don't struggle with hearing loss may be surprised to learn that health insurance covers next to nothing in the way of hearing aids or other audiological treatment. When insurance does cover something, it's usually only the initial evaluation for patients to be diagnosed with hearing loss.
Hearing aids are instead considered elective, despite the fact that 2 to 3 out of every 1,000 children born in the
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