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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Silva

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/27/06

1/30/06 HB HM 16

SHORT TITLE Children’s Hearing Aid Insurance Coverage

SB

ANALYST Lewis

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Commission for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons (CDHH)

Department of Health (DOH)

Public Regulation Commission (PRC)

Human Services Department (HSD)

Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Memorial 16 requests 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.

The memorial further requests 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 De-

partment, 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,

representatives of the National Hearing Loss Association of America, Parents Reaching Out,

the New Mexico Speech and Hearing Association, Presbyterian Ear Institute, the New Mex-

ico Audiology Association, the New Mexico Association of the Deaf and other invested

stakeholders;

House Memorial 16 – Page

2

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

copies of this memorial be transmitted to the Commission for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Per-

sons, 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.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

No fiscal impact.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

According to the Commission for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons (CDHH), hearing aids have

become very costly and this issue needs to be addressed. CDHH notes that this memorial will

bring the different agencies together and begin a true dialogue on how the State of New Mexico

may begin to address this issue.

According to the Department of Health (DOH), as many as 80 infants are born each year in New

Mexico with congenital hearing loss, placing congenital hearing loss among the most common

birth defects. Other children are born with normal hearing but experience late onset or progres-

sive hearing loss. The New Mexico Universal Newborn Hearing Screening program mandated

by legislation in 2001 requires all hospitals to screen newborns for hearing sensitivity prior to

discharge from the hospital, following guidelines established by the Joint Commission on Infant

Hearing. Those guidelines include screening of all newborns before one month of age, audi-

ologic diagnosis before three months of age and enrollment in early intervention services before

six months of age.

According to DOH, children as young as one month of age can be fitted with hearing aids. Al-

though there is a small window of opportunity for early intervention to prevent life-long conse-

quences, there is considerable evidence that early intervention services at this young age can

mitigate the effects of the hearing loss and provide the child and family with the opportunity to

develop age appropriate communication.

DOH notes that an estimated 86% of New Mexico children have some type of insurance, but

most insurance plans in New Mexico, except Medicaid, do not provide coverage for hearing aids.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The Insurance Division of the Public Regulation Commission (PRC) notes that it can provide

staff to participate in the study with existing staff and budget and with minimal fiscal impact.

CYFD also indicates that it can absorb any administrative impact associated with the memorial.

ML/yr