Ohio Senate considers bill requiring insurance to cover hearing aids

State Sen. Edna Brown, D-Toledo, has introduced legislation that would require health insurers to cover hearing aids  (Source: “Ohio bill would mandate health insurance cover hearing aids,” Youngstown Vindicator, Feb. 5, 2014).

“Many insurance plans consider hearing aids as elective forms of treatment and do not cover them as part of basic health coverage,” Brown told members of the chamber’s Insurance and Financial Institutions Committee, where SB 257 had a first hearing Tuesday. “The out-of-pocket costs for hearing aids easily reaches into the thousands of dollars, and for many families, these costs represent a significant portion of their household income or are simply outside of their financial means altogether.”

The proposed law change would cap coverage of hearing aids at $1,500 per ear over a three-year period. That would include hearing assessments, fittings, adjustments and related expenses.