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Document 15 of 30.

April 5, 2000, Wednesday

SECTION: FEATURES - ACCENT & ARTS, Pg. 1G

LENGTH: 1006 words

HEADLINE: THE HIGH COST OF HEARING MOM FIGHTS FOR INSURANCE COVERAGE OF DEAF NEWBORNS' EAR SURGERIES

BYLINE: Roger K. Lowe, Dispatch Washington Bureau Chief

DATELINE: WASHINGTON -

BODY:

Ohioan Angie King is on a crusade for those who might not be able to hear her battle cry.

She wants the hearing of all newborns tested, and she wants insurance companies to pay for cochlear implants, which can help deaf children hear.

Through zeal and tenacity, King has nabbed an impressive array of listeners, including the Clinton White House, national news shows and Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush.

Significant hearing loss has been diagnosed in King's two daughters -- Erica, 4, and Jaime, 18 months. Erica underwent a cochlear implant in May that restored her hearing.

Yet King and her husband, Mark, were dismayed to learn that their insurance company won't cover the $ 50,000 procedure, saying the family's health- insurance policy does not cover "hearing aids."

King is fighting back in every way she can.

She appealed the decision to the Ohio Department of Insurance, which sided with her. She also filed a class-action suit in federal court in Cincinnati, accusing Benicorp Insurance of Indianapolis of discriminating against the deaf in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act.

And King has told her story to a variety of political leaders, writing to Clinton and Vice President Al Gore and explaining her plight to Texas Gov. Bush, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, during his Feb. 29 visit to Westerville North High School.

On Wednesday, King, who lives in the northwest Ohio city of Celina, will join the Deafness Research Foundation and federal officials in a Capitol Hill news conference to promote newborn screening for deafness.

Each year, 12,000 newborns leave U.S. hospitals with a hearing impairment, according to the foundation. Only 35 percent of infants, however, are screened for hearing loss at birth.

Twenty-two states require hearing tests for all newborns, but Ohio is not among them. King is trying to persuade the General Assembly to mandate the tests.

Congress and the White House, meanwhile, are taking steps to deal with the problem.

The federal Health Resources and Services Administration last week awarded $ 7 million in grants to 22 states for newborn hearing-screening programs. The grants include $ 107, 228 for Ohio, with the money earmarked to set up systems to screen up to 95 percent of newborns before they leave the hospital.

"Delayed detection can delay speech and language development, affecting a child's social, emotional and academic growth," said Rep. Sherrod Brown, D- Lorain. "This grant will make sure children with hearing loss have every available tool to learn and grow."

The Newborn Hearing Screening and Intervention Act, passed by Congress and signed into law last year, provides three years of money for states to set up hearing-detection programs for newborns.

Ohio currently tests only at-risk newborns with conditions such as low birth weight, a family history of hearing loss or specific medical conditions. The system leaves more than half of infants with hearing loss unidentified.

King and others promoting the National Campaign for Hearing Health want a 50 percent increase nationally in testing for hearing loss.

King will attend today's forum with firsthand knowledge of the problem. Her husband was the first to suspect several years ago that Erica, 6 months old at the time, couldn't hear.

"I didn't believe him," Mrs. King said. "Two months later, the reality finally set in. She wouldn't startle if the dog would bark or if we would call her. The thing that really made me believe there was a possibility (of hearing loss) was that she hadn't started babbling, even at 8 months."

Initially, Erica was treated with hearing aids, but her condition worsened when she was 3. That was when the Kings heard about a cochlear implant, a quarter-size device that serves as a replacement inner ear.

The change has been phenomenal, Mrs. King said. "She is a talking and listening child who uses no sign language."

Recent tests showed that Erica's speech and language skills are at a 5-year, 4-month level.

"She is an excellent example of hard work and early intervention," Mrs. King said.

Her push goes beyond hearing screening for every newborn.

Early detection doesn't do much good, she said, if parents cannot afford the $ 50,000 needed for cochlear implants.

King makes no apologies for her fury at her insurance company. She notes that Benicorp policies cover penile implants but not cochlear implants. Medicaid and Medicare will cover the procedure.

Benicorp Insurance has said in letters to King and others that cochlear implants are not included on a list of covered procedures, and that therefore it will not pay. King complained to the Ohio Department of Insurance, which in December said Erica should be eligible for payment under the policy the Kings have.

However, Benicorp Vice President Barbara Rouse said in a response letter that the Ohio Department of Insurance has no authority to order it or any other insurer to pay claims.

The company has said that the King family's policy does not cover expenses regarding eyeglasses, hearing aids, contact lenses or eye surgery.

King also complained to Clinton, who referred her claim of discrimination to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

"They've stonewalled and stonewalled," King said of Benicorp. "It's an outrage. It's another example of an insurance company that has mistreated a policyholder."

The Kings' other daughter, 18-month-old Jaime, has the same condition and has been using hearing aids since she was 4 months. Chances are good that Jaime also will need a cochlear implant, and the family doesn't relish the prospect of another $ 50,000 bill that the insurance company won't cover.

King has appeared on national news shows such as Good Morning America to tell her story. She has also spoken to Ohio and Indiana newspapers and television stations.

"I don't want any other family to go through what we're going through," she said. "I'm fighting for everybody else."

GRAPHIC: Phot, Angie and Mark King with daughters Jaime, 18 months, and Erica, 4, in their Celina, Ohio, home James E. Mahan / For The Dispatc

LOAD-DATE: April 5, 2000

Document 15 of 30.


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