SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For many children in California, the ability to hear is a luxury. For one family in Lodi, it's literally a luxury as they have to shell out thousands of dollars every few years just so their daughter can hear. Now, they're hoping that will change soon and bring financial relief to their family.
Hearing aids have been a lifeline for 8-year-old Avery Shular since she was a newborn.
"She was about four weeks old when they told us that she had mild to moderate hearing loss," said Caprice Shular, Avery's mother.
With no experience dealing with hearing loss in their family, Shular said her first priority was finding a solution.
"How is this gonna affect her? We weren't thinking anything about costs that we were gonna have to come up with money," said Shular.
Money quickly became a problem when the Shulars found out how much it would cost to get Avery her first pair of hearing aids.
"The cost was $5,000. For the set, so for two hearing aids, and we put the first pair of hearing aids on a credit card," she said.
Shular says they have to be replaced every four years, costing the family thousands of dollars because health insurance won't cover the entire cost.
"The insurance is counting it as an elective or like cosmetic. And it's not, it's something that the kids need to be able to develop sounds and language," said Shular.
That all might change if Gov. Gavin Newsom signs Senate Bill 635 which, if passed, would require insurance companies to include coverage for hearing aids for people 21 and younger.
"There would be no financial burden that we would have to worry about, and wouldn't have to worry about my daughter having a financial burden when she gets older," said Shular.
Senator Caroline Menjivar introduced the bill and a spokesperson for her office says a similar bill did not pass in 2019. Her office has no indication that the governor will veto this bill and they remain hopeful.
"I would tell him that he has the chance to impact thousands of children's lives in California... it's time to let California kids hear," she said.
A Governor spokesperson says each bill will be evaluated on its merits and the governor won't comment on any pending legislation. He has until Oct. 14 to sign or veto the bill.
