According to estimates from the National Institute on Deafness and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) approximately one out of every ten people in the United States has a hearing loss. Unfortunately, with the graying of our population the relative incidence of hearing loss is increasing. Even more troubling is the fact that as our society has become noisier, hearing loss is occurring at increasing rates among the younger sectors of our population.

Census data indicates that 28.49% of Missourians (approximately 1,594,172 people) are under 20 years old. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) estimates that 17 out of every 1000 children (1.7%) under 18 years of age have a hearing loss. Extrapolation from these national figures suggests that there are over 27,000 Missourians under the age of 20 who have a hearing loss. The NIDCD also estimates that only one out of every five persons who could benefit from a hearing aid actually wears one - many don’t simply because they can’t afford to buy a hearing aid. However, almost all of those individuals can live independent and productive lives with the help of technology such as hearing aids. On behalf of this vast and growing multitude of young Missouri citizens, it is with much pleasure that I sit before you to urge your support for Senate Bill 274.

Insurance companies presently pay for a great variety of prosthetic devices, yet insurance companies typically do not pay for auditory prostheses, which are among the most frequently needed prosthetic devices in today’s society. High quality programmable analog hearing aids may cost as much as $3000, while top of the line digital aids may cost up to $5000. As the price of this essential technology has reached all-time highs, it is becoming harder and harder for many parents to afford the technology that is so essential to the daily well-being of their children. Accordingly, I want to urge your unqualified support for this bill. Were this bill to become law, it would place hearing aids for their children within the economic reach of most parents in Missouri, many for the first time.

In fact, if SB 274 were passed it would provide benefits to several different sectors of the Missouri citizenry. For example, it would obviously benefit children in Missouri with hearing loss as more of them would be examined and properly fitted with hearing aids, thus likely resulting in increased academic achievement and enhanced family relationships. Parents of those children would benefit from improved communications with family members. Schools in Missouri would benefit from improved social environments, enhanced academic environments, and higher graduation rates from hard of hearing students properly fitted with hearing aids. Even insurance companies would benefit from the fact that early intervention with children with hearing loss would save much costlier future therapies that would be necessary if that hearing loss went undetected and untreated.

It is noteworthy to mention that several states have recently begun to consider this long needed legislation, including Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. In fact, similar legislation has already been passed in Maryland, Oklahoma, Connecticut and Rhode Island. The dialogue has also reached the floor of the United States Congress, where a couple of years ago representatives from fourteen different states co-sponsored H.R. 2321 seeking a federal mandate for hearing aid coverage by entities providing medical insurance.

Missouri can be proud of the fact that it is one of the few states in the nation that provide hearing aid coverage to state employees, some others being California, Maryland and Minnesota. It is now time for Missouri to again demonstrate its wisdom and leadership by extending this benefit to all of the deaf and hard of hearing children within its borders, not just those whose parents work for the state.

I thank you for your time and attention, and invite you to contact the Missouri Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing at any time if you have questions regarding hearing loss or auditory prostheses such as hearing aids.