 Click Here for News 14 video of Bill signing. H589 Is Now Law (effective on 1/1/2011)!!!!
At 3pm on June 7, 2010), Governor Perdue signed into law the requirement that hearing aids for children under the age of 22 will be covered by health benefit plans. What a wonderful day for North Carolina families of children with hearing loss!!
The signing was held in the Old House Chambers of the State Capital. Prior to the public event, Governor Perdue met privately with the Tastet, Skergan, Kamo, Katsiagianis, DeMaeyer, and Soltani families who attended the event. Seven children—Collin Tastet, Rachel Skergan, Sara Soltani, Ntinos Katsiagianis, Neel Kamo, Kevin DeMaeyer and Alex DeMaeyer—along with Senator Bill Purcell, Representative Bob England, Representative Laura Wiley and me walked into the Old House Chamber with Governor Perdue. The children surrounded her as she spoke to those who came to witness the signing. The audience included the families of the children, Holly Shoun who, along with Wendy Katsiagianis represented NC AGBell, Chip Baggett who represented the NC Medical Society, Jan Withers who is the Director of the NC Division of Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and represented the NC Department of Health and Human Services, members of the press and many others.
The Governor made brief comments about the bill, its importance and recognized the children for their work—specifically recognizing Collin Tastet for all his persistent lobbying efforts throughout the process to get this law passed. She then asked Collin to make comments and he gave an amazing speech, telling everyone why children need hearing aids to be able to hear and learn in school. He thanked all who helped to pass the law. It was very moving and amazing to see and hear Collin as he stood posed and confident before the crowd. Each of the legislators made comments and then the signing began. The children were gathered around Governor Perdue and Alex DeMaeyer climbed up on the Governor’s lap. She proceeded to use 10 different pens to sign the law, giving a pen to each child in turn. I was fortunate to also be given a pen which I plan to mount in a shadow box along with a copy of the bill and photos from the signing to hang in the reception area of the BEGINNINGS’ office in Raleigh for all to see!
Finally, the proceedings came to an end and the photo session began. There was a group photo of the Governor and the families and then she took time to pose with each individual family. Collin was interviewed by reports from the Associated Press, the Greensboro News & Record and Raleigh News 14 TV. Hugs were exchanged, more pictures snapped and, finally, it was time to leave.
Achieving this goal, to have insurance coverage for children’s hearing aids in North Carolina, has been a great accomplishment and one of which I know all of you are proud. Thank you all for your support, attention and efforts to make this dream come true!!!
------------------------------------------------------------------- Joni Alberg, Ph.D. Executive Director BEGINNINGS For Parents of Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, Inc. THIS IS AN HISTORIC DAY IN NORTH CAROLINA!
On 5/25/2010, the North Carolina Legislature passed House Bill 589 which mandates insurance coverage for hearing aids for anyone under the age of 22 years of age.
THANK YOU to the many women, men, and children who have worked tirelessly and endlessly for years to bring this about! The bill is on its way to Gov. Perdue's desk for signature!!
H589 - www.ncga.state.nc.us
North Carolina Senate unanimously passed HA589 -- Health Benefit Coverage of Children's Hearing Aids
 A note from Dr. Joni Alberg, Executive Director, BEGINNINGS
Now, we can celebrate!! The bill unanimously passed the Senate today. The next stop will be Governor Perdue who will sign the bill into law. The effective date for this legislation will be January 1, 2011.
Collin, Arthur and Tracy Tastet were present for this historic vote. Collin was recognized by Lieutenant Governor Walter Dalton for his tireless lobbying for the passage of this bill. Check out News 14 Carolina on TV or the web to see their interview of Collin and Arthur following the Senate vote.
Thank you all for your persistence and support to make it a reality for insurance plans in NC to cover the cost of hearing aids for children under the age of 22 years!!! Woo hoo!!!!
Joni
------------------------------------------------------------------- Joni Alberg, Ph.D. Executive Director BEGINNINGS For Parents of Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, Inc.
"Educating and Supporting to Empower Parents!"
P.O. Box 17646, Raleigh, NC 27619 (919)850-2746 V/TTY (919)850-2804 Fax (800) 556-2796 V/TTY (NC Only)
(Page Last Updated 5/29/2010)
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ACTION ALERT!!!!
The NC Senate meets at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday May 26, H589—Health Benefit Coverage of Children’s Hearing Aids will be on their agenda! If it passes the next stop will be Governor Perdue to sign it into law.
(Click here to listen to the live audio broadcast of the Senate session.)
LATEST UPDATE AS OF 5/21/2010
The latest word we have received is that since there are two conference reports out there the first procedure will be for the Senate chairman of the conference committee (Senator Purcell) to ask the Senate to reconsider the vote by which the first conference report was adopted. If that passes then he will move to withdraw the first conference report. Then Senator Purcell will request that the latest conference report be scheduled for consideration. We think this should happen next week. UPDATE AS OF 5/20/2010
Today, H589—Health Benefit Plan Coverage for Children’s Hearing Aids passed the NC House. The vote was (107-0) unanimous in its support! This is a wonderful accomplishment. The bill still needs to be presented on the Senate floor and I expect that to happen next week.
Collin T. and his parents, Arthur and Tracy, were present for the vote and were recognized by the Speaker of the House. Wendy K. also was present to witness this historic moment. Following the House session, Collin and his parents were interviewed by a reporter from the News & Observer (Raleigh paper) which should appear tomorrow. (Click here to read article "Young Lobbyist Shepherds Hearing-aid Bill")
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During the 2009 Session of the NC General Assembly, House Bill 589 (and its companion, Senate Bill 375) was introduced. This bill requires health benefit plans in North Carolina, including the NC State Health Plan for Teachers and State Employees, to cover the cost of one hearing aid per hearing-impaired ear up to $2,500 every 36 months for children under the age or 22 years. This bill was very favorably received and appeared to be headed toward passage by the end of the 2009 Session. Unfortunately, near the end of the Session, the bill was amended to include health benefit plan coverage for therapies provided in the treatment of individuals with autism. Since the financial impact of the additional autism treatment coverage was not provided, the House postponed action on the entire bill until May 12, 2010—when the 2010 Session of the NC General Assembly again convenes.
What happens next??? If all goes as planned, the House will refer the Bill back to a House/Senate “conference” committee who we hope will remove the coverage for individuals with autism and thus ensuring House Bill 589 will become law. Insurance coverage for therapies benefitting individuals with autism is extremely important. A separate bill for this coverage is being drafted and, hopefully, will be introduced during the 2010 Session.
(Click here to view latest version of bill H589. Click here to view the Conference Committee Report.)
New! - "NC Hearing Aid Legislative Update" brochure for H589. Click here then use file "H589Update_BrochureV63.pdf"
Please feel free to distribute this brochure to interested parties!
ACTION NEEDED By Parents, Professional, and Children!!!
What you can do!! Parents and professionals please contact your legislators!
Contact your Representative now and ask him or her to encourage Speaker Joe Hackney and Majority Leader Hugh Holliman to place House Bill 589 on the House agenda as soon as possible when they convene in May. Tell your Representative how important this bill is to you, your family, and/or children with hearing loss. Ask them to please address and pass the bill when the legislature next convenes. Your voice will be heard!! And just think how LOUDLY all our voices will sound!!!
In addition to your own legislators, letters should also be sent in the Senate to: Senator Garrou, Swindell, Dannelly, Albertson, and Basnight.
Winston-Salem and Forsyth County residents can REALLY help by contacting Senator Garrou and the other Forsyth House and Senate members telling her/them how important House Bill 589 is to them and to please take the lead to see this bill is passed during this upcoming Session.
(Need help getting started with a letter? Click here then use file "2010SupportH589Template.doc")
It is always good to remind the legislators that the hearing aid section of the legislation can ultimately save our community significant dollars. The average educational cost for a child with hearing loss who is not provided the necessary intervention, including hearing technology, is estimated to require special education services costing $417,000 to $500,000 during their educational years. After leaving the educational setting it is estimated an additional $500,000 in public support will be required.
Special "Thank You" should go out to Rep. England, Rep. Glazier, Rep. Wiley, Rep. M. Alexander, and Sen. Purcell for their support as primary sponsors for H589/S375. Without their support and leadership we would not be as far as where we are today!
Children should write their legislators!
The children that have gone to meet and/or wrote their legislators have been very effective. A simple template for a child to use could be:
"Thank you for your support of House Bill 589. Please help fix the problem with it and pass this Bill when legislature next convenes. This bill is needed to help children with hearing loss in our state." [Optional: They can tell how their hearing aids help them. (Or a sibling can tell how they have seen the heairng aids help their brother or sister.)]
We are in special need of families from certain areas to help!
Joni Alberg is looking for families in key legislative districts to volunteer to go with her to meet their Senator/Respresentative in their home district. Please contact Joni Alberg (jalberg@ncbegin.org) if you live in any of the following areas:
(If you do not know who represents you, click here to find out who represents you.)
Beaufort, Camden, Currituck, Dare, Hyde, Pasquotank, Tyrell, Washington (District 1)
Duplin, Lenoir, Sampson (District 10)
Nash, Wilson (District 11)
Bladen, Cumberland (District 19)
Forsyth (District 32)
Mecklenburg (District 37 & 38)
Chatham, Moore, Orange (District 54)
Davidson (District 81)
To view the current or past updates on bill status click here.
Click here to look at pictures of children in action at our state capital for the House Insurance Committee meeting. Click here to view Greensboro News and Record article: "Hear aid bill (video)" about the committee meeting. (Initial 2009 Bill Support Information Section)
Senate Bill 375 (S375) has been introduced into the North Carolina State Senate that will require health benefit plans and the state health plan to cover hearing aids and replacement of hearing aids for individuals under the age of 22. Click here to read the actual initial Bill.
The following Senators are sponsors of this Bill: Senators Purcell, Apodaca, Bingham, Brunstetter, Dorsett, Forrester, McKissick, Rand, and Rouzer.
This Bill has also been introduced into the North Carolina House. It is known as House Bill 589 (H589). Click here to read the actual initial Bill.
The following Representatives are sponsors of this Bill: Representatives England, M. Alexander, Wiley, Glazier (Primary Sponsors); Bell, Brisson, Carney, Crawford, Faison, Farmer-Butterfield, Harrison, Insko, Jackson, Jeffus, Jones, Lucas, Martin, McElraft, McLawhorn, Pierce, Randleman, Sutton, Tarleton, Wainwright, E. Warren, Whilden, and Williams.
What can you do?
Other Resources
Click here to see tips on "How To Effectively Communicate With Your Legislators".
Click here to see "Talking Points for Parents" that can be used with legislators to discuss the legislation.
Click here to see "Talking Points for Professionals" that can be used with legislators to discuss the legislation.
Click here to see other resource documents like "Legislators with History of Support for Children with Hearing Loss" and "Listing of Supporting Organizations".
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