The Florida Academy of Audiology is pleased to announce the introduction of legislation in Florida to require insurance companies to provide coverage for hearing care and hearing aids for children with private health insurance.
FLORIDA SENATE: SB 572 – http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2019/00572
SB 572: Insurance Coverage for Hearing Aids for Children
GENERAL BILL by Baxley
Filed: Jan. 29, 2019
FLORIDA HOUSE: HB 531 – http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2019/00531
HB 531: Insurance Coverage for Hearing Aids for Children
GENERAL BILL by Brannan; (CO-INTRODUCERS) Smith, C.
To get hearing aid coverage for children with private insurance in Florida, we need your help! The insurance lobby is strong and already working hard to squash this bill, but we know Floridians care about our children. Twenty-four states already have enacted similar legislation. We can do this!
Our bill has been assigned to House committees. The first committee is Health Market Reform, which will probably only meet a couple of times this session. The chair of the committee and a few of the members have been good friends to children with hearing loss in Florida, but it will still be very hard to compete with other bills to get on the docket. If the bill is not ‘heard’ in committee, it cannot advance.
By February 15, 2019 we need you and all of your friends and family to email the members of the Health Market Reformcommittee asking them to hear the bill. Everything you need is right here in this email! Please also email your member of the House explaining that you live in their district, that it is important to you that this bill be heard, and ask them to request a hearing from the committee chair. Here is the website to find your member:
https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/representatives.aspx
Please copy profaffairs@floridaaudiology.org so we have an idea of how many letters they are getting and can follow up in person. Sample letters and committee email addresses are below.
There are generic and parent or family member specific samples as well as one sample for your own legislator who may not be on this committee. Feel free to copy and paste and to add your own personal experiences.
Committee Email Addresses:
Chairman Pigman: Cary.Pigman@myfloridahouse.gov, hearingaidbill@deafkidscan.org
Committee Members:
Heather.Fitzenhagen@myfloridahouse.gov, Margaret.Good@myfloridahouse.gov, Casello.Joseph@myfloridahouse.gov, Nicholas.Duran@myfloridahouse.gov, Javier.Fernandez@myfloridahouse.gov, Michael.Grant@myfloridahouse.gov, Blaise.Ingoglia@myfloridahouse.gov,Tom.Leek@myfloridahouse.gov, Ralph.Massullo@myfloridahouse.gov, Lawrence.McClure@myfloridahouse.gov, Anika.Omphroy@myfloridahouse.gov, Bob.Rommel@myfloridahouse.gov, Jackie.Toledo@myfloridahouse.gov, Josie.Tomkow@myfloridahouse.gov,hearingaidbill@deafkidscan.org
Generic Sample 1:
Chairman Pigman,
We know that you have been a friend to children with hearing loss in Florida and these children need your help today. Please hear House bill 531 Insurance Coverage for Hearing Aids for Children in the Health Market Reform Subcommittee.
Generic Sample 2:
Health Market Reform Committee,
Florida’s children with hearing loss need your help. Medically necessary hearing aids are not currently covered by most private health insurance in Florida. When children with hearing loss get appropriate amplification and services early in their development, they can access language and have literacy and academic outcomes that change the course of their lives. These children cannot wait. This bill means so much to those children, their families and to me as a Floridian.
Please ask Chairman Pigman to hear House bill 531 Insurance Coverage for Hearing Aids for Children in the Health Market Reform Subcommittee.
Family Member Sample 1:
Chairman Pigman,
As the (parent/grandparent/aunt/uncle) of a child with hearing loss, I appreciate your past support of our children. We need your help again today. When children with hearing loss get appropriate amplification and services early in their development, they can access language and have literacy and academic outcomes that change the course of their lives. Our children cannot wait. They have gifts, talents, and abilities that our state will benefit from and needs. Please help ensure that our children have what they need to access their full potential.
Please hear House bill 531 Insurance Coverage for Hearing Aids for Children in the Health Market Reform Subcommittee.
Family Member Sample 2:
Health Market Reform Committee,
As the (parent/grandparent/aunt/uncle) of a child with hearing loss, I know first-hand the importance of House Bill 531 Insurance Coverage for Hearing Aids for Children. When children with hearing loss get appropriate amplification and services early in their development, they can access language and have literacy and academic outcomes that change the course of their lives. Our children cannot wait. They have gifts, talents, and abilities that our state will benefit from and needs. Please help ensure that our children have what they need to access their full potential.
Please ask Chairman Pigman to hear House Bill 531 Insurance Coverage for Hearing Aids for Children in the Health Market Reform Subcommittee.
For Your Legislator (https://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Representatives/myrepresentative.aspx)
Representative __________________,
As one of your constituents, I am writing to ask for your help. House Bill 531 Insurance Coverage for Hearing Aids for Children has been assigned to the Health Market Reform Subcommittee. This bill is extremely important to me and to my family. Children with hearing loss need access to appropriate amplification to develop language and literacy. These children have gifts, talents, and abilities that our state will benefit from and needs. Please help us ensure they have what they need to reach their full potential.
Would you please ask Chairman Pigman to hear House Bill 531 Insurance Coverage for Hearing Aids for Children in the Health Market Reform Subcommittee?
(Be Sure to Sign with your name and address in their district).
Now is the time to get behind these initiatives:
- Send a letter using one of our provided templates.
- Tell families of children with hearing loss to also call their members of the State Legislature to support House Bill HB 531 and Senate Bill SB 572.
- Please help us continue the momentum and “like” our new Facebook page for this effort:
https://www.facebook.com/Hearing-Care-For-Children-Act-Florida-1762742370412396/?__tn__=%2Cg - Join us in Tallahassee on March 6, 2019 for our Children’s Hearing Technology Day to advocate for children’s hearing health and educate legislators on the necessary technology to do so.
- Send a check to FLAA with a memo to allocate the money for these legislative initiatives.
Join FLAA for 2019, an important step for the families we serve. Click here to renew your membership or click here to become a new member. There is strength in numbers and we need your support to continue this effort!