Bill Text: NY S03937 | 2013-2014 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Requires all health insurance policies to provide insurance coverage for the cost of hearing aids; provides that such coverage shall include coverage of at least $1,000 over a three year period; provides that children under the age of sixteen are allowed reimbursement for expenses related to the purchase of up to two hearing aids.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-03-26 - PRINT NUMBER 3937A [S03937 Detail]
Download: New_York-2013-S03937-Amended.html
S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K ________________________________________________________________________ 3937--A 2013-2014 Regular Sessions I N S E N A T E February 27, 2013 ___________ Introduced by Sens. O'BRIEN, DILAN, SAMPSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Insur- ance -- recommitted to the Committee on Insurance in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the insurance law, in relation to providing coverage for hearing aids THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM- BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: 1 Section 1. Paragraphs 27 and 28 of subsection (i) of section 3216 of 2 the insurance law, paragraph 27 as added by chapter 536 of the laws of 3 2010 and paragraph 28 as added by chapter 589 of the laws of 2011, are 4 renumbered paragraphs 30 and 31 and a new paragraph 32 is added to read 5 as follows: 6 (32) (A) EVERY HEALTH INSURANCE POLICY ISSUED OR DELIVERED IN THIS 7 STATE SHALL PROVIDE COVERAGE FOR HEARING AIDS PURCHASED FROM NEW YORK 8 STATE HEARING AID DISPENSERS REGISTERED UNDER ARTICLE THIRTY-SEVEN-A OF 9 THE GENERAL BUSINESS LAW OR AUDIOLOGISTS LICENSED UNDER ARTICLE ONE 10 HUNDRED FIFTY-NINE OF THE EDUCATION LAW IN THE FOLLOWING MANNER: 11 (I) FOR AN INSURED PERSON WHO IS SIXTEEN YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER, SUCH 12 INSURED PERSON SHALL BE ENTITLED TO REIMBURSEMENT OF UP TO ONE THOUSAND 13 DOLLARS EVERY THREE YEARS FOR EXPENSES RELATED TO THE PURCHASE OF UP TO 14 TWO HEARING AIDS. 15 (II) FOR AN INSURED PERSON WHO IS LESS THAN SIXTEEN YEARS OF AGE, SUCH 16 INSURED PERSON SHALL BE ENTITLED TO REIMBURSEMENT OF UP TO ONE THOUSAND 17 DOLLARS EVERY TWO YEARS FOR EXPENSES RELATED TO THE PURCHASE OF UP TO 18 TWO HEARING AIDS. WHEN IT IS DEMONSTRATED THAT (1) THE INSURED CHILD'S 19 HEARING HAS CHANGED SIGNIFICANTLY WITHIN A TWO YEAR PERIOD AND (2) THE 20 EXISTING HEARING AID WILL NO LONGER CORRECT THE CHILD'S HEARING LOSS, 21 SUCH INSURED PERSON SHALL BE ENTITLED TO REIMBURSEMENT FOR ADDITIONAL 22 HEARING AID EXPENSES. EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD04816-03-4 S. 3937--A 2 1 (III) FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS PARAGRAPH, THE INSURED PERSON SHALL BE 2 ENTITLED TO SPEND MORE THAN ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS ON HEARING AID 3 EXPENSES, BUT SHALL ONLY BE ALLOWED REIMBURSEMENT UP TO THE AMOUNT 4 PROVIDED IN CLAUSE (I) OR (II) OF THIS SUBPARAGRAPH. 5 (B)(I) FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS PARAGRAPH "HEARING AID" SHALL MEAN ANY 6 WEARABLE INSTRUMENT OR DEVICES DESIGNED FOR HEARING AND ANY PARTS, 7 ATTACHMENTS OR ACCESSORIES BUT EXCLUDING BATTERIES AND CORDS OR ACCESSO- 8 RIES THERETO. 9 (II) FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, SERVICES FOR RECASING, RESHELL- 10 ING AND ACQUIRING NEW MOLDS SHALL BE INCLUDED AS PART OF THE POLICIES. 11 (C) COVERAGE PROVIDED PURSUANT TO THIS PARAGRAPH SHALL NOT BE SUBJECT 12 TO DEDUCTIBLES, COINSURANCE, OR COPAYMENTS. 13 S 2. Section 3221 of the insurance law is amended by adding a new 14 subsection (t) to read as follows: 15 (T) (1) EVERY GROUP HEALTH INSURANCE POLICY ISSUED OR DELIVERED IN 16 THIS STATE SHALL PROVIDE COVERAGE FOR HEARING AIDS PURCHASED FROM NEW 17 YORK STATE HEARING AID DISPENSERS REGISTERED UNDER ARTICLE THIRTY-SEV- 18 EN-A OF THE GENERAL BUSINESS LAW OR AUDIOLOGISTS LICENSED UNDER ARTICLE 19 ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-NINE OF THE EDUCATION LAW IN THE FOLLOWING MANNER: 20 (A) FOR AN INSURED PERSON WHO IS SIXTEEN YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER, SUCH 21 INSURED PERSON SHALL BE ENTITLED TO REIMBURSEMENT OF UP TO ONE THOUSAND 22 DOLLARS EVERY THREE YEARS FOR EXPENSES RELATED TO THE PURCHASE OF UP TO 23 TWO HEARING AIDS. 24 (B) FOR AN INSURED PERSON WHO IS LESS THAN SIXTEEN YEARS OF AGE, SUCH 25 INSURED PERSON SHALL BE ENTITLED TO REIMBURSEMENT OF UP TO ONE THOUSAND 26 DOLLARS EVERY TWO YEARS FOR EXPENSES RELATED TO THE PURCHASE OF UP TO 27 TWO HEARING AIDS. WHEN IT IS DEMONSTRATED THAT (I) THE INSURED CHILD'S 28 HEARING HAS CHANGED SIGNIFICANTLY WITHIN A TWO YEAR PERIOD AND (II) THE 29 EXISTING HEARING AID WILL NO LONGER CORRECT THE CHILD'S HEARING LOSS, 30 SUCH INSURED PERSON SHALL BE ENTITLED TO REIMBURSEMENT FOR ADDITIONAL 31 HEARING AID EXPENSES. 32 (C) FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SUBSECTION, THE INSURED PERSON SHALL BE 33 ENTITLED TO SPEND MORE THAN ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS ON HEARING AID 34 EXPENSES, BUT SHALL ONLY BE ALLOWED REIMBURSEMENT UP TO THE AMOUNT 35 PROVIDED IN SUBPARAGRAPH (A) OR (B) OF THIS PARAGRAPH. 36 (2)(A) FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SUBSECTION, "HEARING AID" SHALL MEAN 37 ANY WEARABLE INSTRUMENT OR DEVICES DESIGNED FOR HEARING AND ANY PARTS, 38 ATTACHMENTS OR ACCESSORIES BUT EXCLUDING BATTERIES AND CORDS OR ACCESSO- 39 RIES THERETO. 40 (B) FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, SERVICES FOR RECASING, RESHELL- 41 ING AND ACQUIRING NEW MOLDS SHALL BE INCLUDED AS PART OF THE POLICIES. 42 (3) COVERAGE PROVIDED PURSUANT TO THIS SUBSECTION SHALL NOT BE SUBJECT 43 TO DEDUCTIBLES, COINSURANCE, OR COPAYMENTS. 44 S 3. Section 4303 of the insurance law is amended by adding a new 45 subsection (oo) to read as follows: 46 (OO) (1) EVERY CONTRACT ISSUED OR DELIVERED IN THIS STATE BY A HEALTH 47 SERVICE CORPORATION OR HOSPITAL SERVICE CORPORATION SHALL PROVIDE COVER- 48 AGE FOR HEARING AIDS PURCHASED FROM NEW YORK STATE HEARING AID DISPEN- 49 SERS REGISTERED UNDER ARTICLE THIRTY-SEVEN-A OF THE GENERAL BUSINESS LAW 50 OR AUDIOLOGISTS LICENSED UNDER ARTICLE ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-NINE OF THE 51 EDUCATION LAW IN THE FOLLOWING MANNER: 52 (A) FOR AN INSURED PERSON WHO IS SIXTEEN YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER, SUCH 53 INSURED PERSON SHALL BE ENTITLED TO REIMBURSEMENT OF UP TO ONE THOUSAND 54 DOLLARS EVERY THREE YEARS FOR EXPENSES RELATED TO THE PURCHASE OF UP TO 55 TWO HEARING AIDS. S. 3937--A 3 1 (B) FOR AN INSURED PERSON WHO IS LESS THAN SIXTEEN YEARS OF AGE, SUCH 2 INSURED PERSON SHALL BE ENTITLED TO REIMBURSEMENT OF UP TO ONE THOUSAND 3 DOLLARS EVERY TWO YEARS FOR EXPENSES RELATED TO THE PURCHASE OF UP TO 4 TWO HEARING AIDS. WHEN IT IS DEMONSTRATED THAT (I) THE INSURED CHILD'S 5 HEARING HAS CHANGED SIGNIFICANTLY WITHIN A TWO YEAR PERIOD AND (II) THE 6 EXISTING HEARING AID WILL NO LONGER CORRECT THE CHILD'S HEARING LOSS, 7 SUCH INSURED PERSON SHALL BE ENTITLED TO REIMBURSEMENT FOR ADDITIONAL 8 HEARING AID EXPENSES. 9 (C) FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SUBSECTION, THE INSURED PERSON SHALL BE 10 ENTITLED TO SPEND MORE THAN ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS ON HEARING AID 11 EXPENSES, BUT SHALL ONLY BE ALLOWED REIMBURSEMENT UP TO THE AMOUNT 12 PROVIDED IN SUBPARAGRAPH (A) OR (B) OF THIS PARAGRAPH. 13 (2)(A) FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SUBSECTION, "HEARING AID" SHALL MEAN 14 ANY WEARABLE INSTRUMENT OR DEVICES DESIGNED FOR HEARING AND ANY PARTS, 15 ATTACHMENTS OR ACCESSORIES BUT EXCLUDING BATTERIES AND CORDS OR ACCESSO- 16 RIES THERETO. 17 (B) FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SECTION, SERVICES FOR RECASING, RESHELL- 18 ING AND ACQUIRING NEW MOLDS SHALL BE INCLUDED AS PART OF THE POLICIES. 19 (3) COVERAGE PROVIDED PURSUANT TO THIS SUBSECTION SHALL NOT BE SUBJECT 20 TO DEDUCTIBLES, COINSURANCE, OR COPAYMENTS. 21 S 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016 and shall apply to all 22 policies issued, modified or renewed on and after such date.