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A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE STUDY OF THE FEASIBILITY OF MANDATING INSURANCE

COVERAGE FOR HEARING AIDS FOR CHILDREN.

WHEREAS, one to three out of one thousand children, or

approximately twenty-seven to eighty New Mexican babies, are

born with hearing loss every year; and

WHEREAS, the prevalence of congenital hearing loss ranks

among the most common birth defects in New Mexico, which

includes heart defects such as ventricular septal defects

(four and seven-tenths per one thousand live births) and

atrial septal defects (two and one-half per one thousand live

births) and cleft lip and cleft palate (two and seven-tenths

per one thousand live births); and

WHEREAS, the prevalence of childhood hearing loss

increases above three per one thousand when children born with

normal hearing develop progressive and late onset hearing

loss; and

WHEREAS, studies from Colorado indicate that six and

six-tenths per one thousand children have hearing loss that

meets the state definition of educationally significant; and

WHEREAS, studies demonstrate that children whose hearing

loss symptoms are identified and who access intervention

services before six months of age perform almost a full

standard deviation higher on receptive and expressive language

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measures than children whose identification and intervention

is delayed past six months of age; and

WHEREAS, children who do not receive early intervention

cost schools an additional four hundred twenty thousand

dollars ($420,000) and are faced with overall lifetime costs

of one million dollars ($1,000,000) in special education, lost

wages and health complications, according to a respected 1995

study published in the International Journal of Pediatric

Otorhinolaryngology; and

WHEREAS, eighty-six percent of children in New Mexico

are covered by some type of health insurance, including

medicaid; and most insurance plans in New Mexico, except

medicaid, do not provide coverage for hearing aids; and

WHEREAS, twenty-six percent of New Mexican children live

below the poverty threshold, which is defined by the United

States office of management and budget as an income of

eighteen thousand six hundred sixty dollars ($18,660) for a

family of two adults and two children; the average cost of a

digital hearing aid appropriate for the pediatric population

is two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per hearing aid;

and the average cost of a cochlear implant external speech

processor is six thousand dollars ($6,000); and

WHEREAS, medicaid covers only four hundred dollars

($400) per hearing aid in a four-year period; and

WHEREAS, hearing objective 28-13 of Healthy People 2010

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identifies "Increase[ing] access by persons who have hearing

impairments to hearing rehabilitation services and adaptive

devices, including hearing aids, cochlear implants, or tactile

or other assistive or augmentative devices" as a national

public health priority; and

WHEREAS, eight other states, including Connecticut,

Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Oklahoma,

and Rhode Island, have already passed legislation requiring

insurance plans, including medicaid, to cover a specified

amount of the cost of hearing aids, the amount of which ranges

from one thousand dollars ($1,000) per hearing aid up to the

full cost of amplification for both ears;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF

REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that a study be

requested on the feasibility of mandating insurance coverage

for children's hearing aids and cochlear implant processor

replacement as durable medical equipment; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the commission for deaf and

hard-of-hearing persons be the lead agency to coordinate the

study and include the participation of the department of

health, the human services department, the children, youth and

families department and the insurance division of the public

regulation commission as well as private organizations,

including New Mexico hands and voices, an organization of

parents of children who are deaf or hard of hearing,

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representatives of the national hearing loss association of

America, parents reaching out, the New Mexico speech and

hearing association, Presbyterian ear institute, the New

Mexico audiology association, the New Mexico association of

the deaf and other invested stakeholders; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the recommendations

resulting from this study be reported no later than December

30, 2006 to the appropriate legislative committee as deemed by

the New Mexico legislative council; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be

transmitted to the commission for deaf and hard-of-hearing

persons, the New Mexico school for the deaf, the department of

health, the human services department, the children, youth and

families department and the insurance division of the public

regulation commission.