STAND. COM. REP. NO. 806

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.C.R. No. 3

       S.D. 1

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Human Services and Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 3 entitled:

"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE AUDITOR TO ASSESS THE SOCIAL AND FINANCIAL IMPACTS OF REQUIRING HEALTH INSURERS TO OFFER COVERAGE FOR HEARING AIDS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to request the Auditor to conduct an impact assessment report of the social and financial impacts of mandating health insurers to offer coverage for hearings aids.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Disability and Communication Access Board, Assistive Technology Resource Centers of Hawaii, and seventeen individuals.

     Your Committees find that hearing is essential to most individuals in their daily lives, because it allows people to be connected to others in their environments.  Your Committees further find that individuals who have difficulty hearing can experience distorted and incomplete communication, which can impact their professional and personal lives.

     Your Committees also find that a hearing aid enhances an individual's ability to interact independently in the community, but the cost may be prohibitive to the average adult.  According to testimony received by your Committees, hearing aids can cost between $1,000 and $4,000.  Medicare and most health insurance companies do not cover the cost of hearing aids.  Having some of the cost covered by a health plan would enable more individuals to obtain hearing aids.

     Your Committees additionally find that the study proposed in this measure is required by state law, pursuant to section 23-51, Hawaii Revised Statutes, prior to mandating coverage for hearing aids.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Amending a reference from "persons suffering from hearing loss" to "persons who are deaf or hard of hearing" to reflect a people-first philosophy that acknowledges a person first, then a physical condition; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Human Services and Commerce and Consumer Protection that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 3, as amended herein, and recommend that it be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, in the form attached hereto as S.C.R. No. 3, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Human Services and Commerce and Consumer Protection,

____________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair

____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair