Hearing aids: minors.

Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law also provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law requires health care service plan contracts and health insurance policies to provide coverage for specified benefits. This bill, until January 1, 2019, would require a health care service plan contract or a health insurance policy issued, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2017, to include coverage for hearing aids for an enrollee or insured under 18 years of age, as specified. These provisions would become inoperative if the Department of Managed Health Care and the Department of Insurance receive a notification from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services or any other applicable federal agency that these provisions constitute a discriminatory age limitation under federal law and the state is required to defray the costs of requiring a plan contract or policy to include coverage for hearing aids on behalf of enrollees or insureds who are 18 years of age or older pursuant to a specified federal law. Because a willful violation of these requirements by a health care service plan would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.