Date: June 28, 2011
Time: 1 PM
Room: BI, State House
The Joint Committee on Financial Services will hold a public hearing on the following bills:
1. SB429 – An Act providing health care coverage for hearing aids.
Sponsored by Sen. Joyce (D-Milton)
Bill Highlights:
-Requires individual and group health insurance policies to cover hearing aids for children up to $1500 per hearing aid, per ear, every three years, and for adults up to $1000 per hearing aid, per ear, every three years.
-Requires coverage of audiological assessments and follow ups.
-Prohibits special deductibles, coinsurance, co-payments or other limitations on these services.
-Allows insured to pay difference for more expensive hearing aids.
-Prohibits lifetime dollar maximums for hearing aids.
Read S429 text at malegislature.gov
2. HB324 – An Act to provide hearing aid coverage for persons with profound hearing loss.
Sponsored by Rep. Scibak (D-Hadley)
Bill Highlights:
-requires health benefit plans to provide 80% coverage for one hearing aid and related services per ear, every 24 months for insured individuals with bilateral profound hearing loss.
-Does not prohibit special deductibles, coinsurance, co-payments or other limitations on these services.
-Does not prohibit lifetime dollar maximums for hearing aids.
Read the H324 text at malegislature.gov
3. SB472 – An Act relative to large print labels for the visually impaired
Sponsored by Sen. Tolman (D-Brighton)
Bill Highlights:
-requires insurance providers to provide coverage for the expense of a container large enough to be labeled with the name of the medication, the dosage, the dosage frequency and the expiration date in 24 point font for use by a person who is legally blind or visually impaired.
-policy holders would be responsible for re-using the device for refills and for new prescriptions as appropriate and returning the container to a pharmacist for refill.
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