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 $1500.00 per hearing aid, per ear ,every three years, and for adults up to $1000.00 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 the S429 text here. 2. HB324 - An Act to provide hearing aid coverage for persons with profound hearing loss. Sponsored by Rep. Scibak (D-S. 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 here. 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. Read the S472 text here. | 
