A. Group health care coverage, including any form of self-insurance, offered, issued or renewed under the Health Care Purchasing Act shall provide coverage for a hearing aid and any related service for the full cost of one hearing aid per hearing-impaired ear up to two thousand two hundred dollars ($2,200) every thirty-six months for hearing aids for insured children under eighteen years of age or under twenty-one years of age if still attending high school. The insured may choose a higher priced hearing aid and may pay the difference in cost above the two-thousand-two-hundred-dollar ($2,200) limit as provided in this subsection without financial or contractual penalty to the insured or to the provider of the hearing aids.

B. Each insurer that delivers, issues for delivery or renews under the Health Care Purchasing Act any group health care coverage, including any form of self-insurance, may make available to the policyholder the option of purchasing additional hearing aid coverage that exceeds the services described in this section.

C. Hearing aid coverage offered shall include fitting and dispensing services, including providing ear molds as necessary to maintain optimal fit, provided by an audiologist, a hearing aid dispenser or a physician, licensed in New Mexico.

D. The provisions of this section do not apply to short-term travel, accident-only or limited or specified disease policies.

E. Coverage for hearing aids may be subject to deductibles and coinsurance consistent with those imposed on other benefits under the same group health care coverage, including any form of self-insurance.

F. For the purposes of this section, "hearing aid" means durable medical equipment that is of a design and circuitry to optimize audibility and listening skills in the environment commonly experienced by children.

History: Laws 2007, ch. 356, § 1.

Effective dates. — Laws 2007, ch. 356, § 6 made this section effective July 1, 2007.