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The bill requires
the State Employee Health Plan to offer hearing aid coverage at a minimum of
$3,000 per hearing aid. Based on information provided by the state health
plan on the incidence of hearing loss among plan members and national
statistics on the percentage of individuals with hearing loss who use hearing
aids, it is estimated that premiums for the state plan will increase by $1.09
per member per month. The total cost to the plan is estimated to be $347,319
annually for the 26,550 current plan members. The bill includes General Fund
appropriations of $158,492 in fiscal year 2020-21 and Highway Fund
allocations of $56,779 in fiscal year 2020-21 to state departments and
agencies that pay premiums to the health plan to cover the increased premium
costs for those two funds. The remaining costs of $132,047 will be absorbed
by multiple funds across state government. It is expected that coverage of
hearing aids under the State Employee Health Plan will begin on or after July
1, 2020. |