A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO REQUIRE HEALTH BENEFIT PLANS AND THE STATE HEALTH PLAN TO COVER HEARING AIDS AND REPLACEMENT HEARING AIDS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  Article 3 of Chapter 58 of the General Statutes is amended by adding the following new section to read:
"§ 58‑3‑280. Coverage for hearings aids.
(a)	Every health benefit plan, including the State Health Plan for Teachers and State Employees, shall provide coverage for the full cost of one hearing aid per hearing‑impaired ear up to two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per hearing aid every 36 months for covered individuals under the age of 22 years. The coverage shall include all related services that are prescribed by an audiologist licensed in this State. The prescribed hearing aids shall be medically appropriate to meet the needs of the individual according to accepted professional standards. Coverage shall be as follows:
(1)	Initial hearing aids and replacement hearing aids not more frequently than every 36 months.
(2)	A new hearing aid when alterations to the existing hearing aid cannot adequately meet the needs of the child.
(3)	Services and supplies including the initial hearing aid evaluation, fitting, and adjustments that are provided according to accepted standards.
(b)	The same deductibles, coinsurance, and other limitations as apply to similar services covered under the health benefit plan apply to hearing aids and related services and supplies required to be covered under this section."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 135‑45.8(13) reads as rewritten:
"§ 135‑45.8.  General limitations and exclusions.
The following shall in no event be considered covered expenses nor will benefits described in G.S. 135‑45.6 through G.S. 135‑45.11 be payable for:
…
(13)	Charges for eyeglasses or other corrective lenses (except for cataract lenses certified as medically necessary for aphakia  persons).
.…"
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective January 1, 2010, and applies to health benefit plans that are delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on and after that date.