Recently, one of our readers alerted us to a bill that will have an impact on the rights of Virginians who are deaf or are hard of hearing. During this session, the legislature considered several bills relating to the needs of people who are deaf and hard of hearing; unfortunately, many did not survive cross-over. If you know of something going on in the legislature that you think we should know about, please let us know. Contact us at info@dlcv.org or by calling 1-800-552-3962 or 804-225-2042.
Here are some of the bills that are still active this year:
SB 423 (DeSteph) requires health insurance carriers to offer coverage for hearing aids for minors, one per ear, every 24 months. The bill has been approved by the Senate, and by the House Committee on Commerce and Labor, and is now in the House Committee on Appropriations. A similar bill, HB 1594 (Cole) was carried over to 2021 (defeated) in the House Committee on Commerce and Labor.
SB 564 (Edwards) allows the advisory committee to the Virginia Hearing Loss Identification and Monitoring System to create language development milestones for use by educators of children up to age five. The bill has been approved by the full Senate, by the House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and referred to House Appropriations. The bill has a price tag of more than $300,000, primarily for technology and data requirements and related staffing. Funding for the bill was included in the Senate budget amendments.
NO LONGER ACTIVE
Several bills sought to require either closed or open captioning in movie theatres. Watt’s HB 740 would have required closed captioning; the bill was stricken at Delegate Watts’ request. Her bill HB 747 and Barker’s SB 274 would have required open captions of some movies. Those two bills were carried over to 2021, to allow for an “industry study” of the feasibility of captioning.
HB 503 (Roem) and SB 382 (McPike) would have required insurance plans to cover prosthetic devices. Currently, such coverage is optional. Both bills were carried over to 2021 with a request that the Health Insurance Reform Commission consider the proposal.
The mission of the disAbility Law Center of Virginia is to advance independence, choice and self-determination; protect legal, human and civil rights; and eliminate abuse, neglect and discrimination of people with disabilities through zealous and uncompromising legal advocacy and representation.