ATLANTA - A handful of mothers with Deaf children urged legislators Tuesday to require health insurance companies to provide hearing aids.The women estimated there are fewer than 400 children needing the devices which can run as much as $6,000 for a pair every five years. Medicaid, the state’s insurance for the poor, already provides them, but most private insurance companies don’t because, unlike devices such as pacemakers, they aren’t necessary for survival.
The mothers, who formed LetGeorgiaHear.org, argue that spending $40,000 on hearing aids during a child’s youth avoids tenfold costs for special education.
“It’s going to be hard. It’s not a very popular concept,” admits Kelly Jenkins, one of the group’s co-founders and the mother of 3-year-old Sloane who was fitted with hearing aids before she could walk.
Comer Yates, executive director of the Atlanta Speech School, said 90 percent of Deaf children are born to hearing parents, so they are unlikely to learn sign language from their parents at an age when other children are developing their vocabulary.
“Early exposure to language determines a child’s pathway in life,” he said.
Rep. Ed Lindsey, R-Atlanta, is the sponsor of House Bill 74 that would mandate hearing-aid coverage for children. ...READ MORE: http://jacksonville.com/news/georgia/2013-03-12/story/mothers-deaf-children-want-insurance-companies-pay-hearing-aids
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