Child advocates and lawmakers are furious with Gov. Gavin Newsom as California’s pediatric hearing aid program has spent tens of millions of dollars on administrative fees while delivering only a few hundred hearing aids.
Nearly five years after Newsom pushed lawmakers toward a state-run alternative instead of requiring private insurers to cover pediatric hearing aids, California’s Hearing Aid Coverage for Children Program had around 300 active enrolled members despite spending almost $23 million, according to a report delivered last month to a state Senate budget committee. That works out to about $76,000 per person.
Michelle Marciniak, founder of Let California Kids Hear, told The Post that the governor’s office has dropped the ball.
“The governor has a budget proposal on his desk that would help more children, reduce taxpayer exposure, and finally reflect years of bipartisan legislative intent,” Marciniak said, noting that Newsom still has time to address the issue in his revised budget coming out Thursday.
“A child’s development doesn’t wait. It is time to solve this.”
Newsom’s refusal to take greater action to help kids with hearing loss stands in contrast to his action last week to provide free diapers, as well as his swift reversal earlier this year to expand menopause care for women in the budget after criticism from actress Halle Berry.
The state program has received roughly $30 million in taxpayer funding over multiple budget years while serving only a fraction of the children advocates say lack adequate hearing aid coverage statewide.
State Sen. Suzette Valladares (R-Santa Clarita) ripped Newsom by noting that “nearly 20,000 kids are still sitting in classrooms struggling to hear clearly.”
“These are real children whose learning, confidence, and futures are being impacted every single day,” Valladares told The Post.
“At some point we have to stop funding bureaucracy and start fixing the actual coverage gaps so families can get their kids the help they need.”
Hellbound and Down 