Up for a Challenge with SB2516?

Hello, my name is JulieAnn Chavez and I am the leader for Illinois Senate Bill 2516.  First, I would like to update all of you on SB2516. The bill is currently out of insurance committee for the time being.  Thank you to all of you for calling, writing, and sending postcards to your Senators.  Your diligent efforts have gained the attention of the legislators in the Capitol.  However, our work is far from over and we MUST continue to pressure the Senators to keep SB2516 alive and moving through the process of becoming law.

Two friends of mine contributed their talents that have gained the attention of many!  Patrick Hughes interviewed Margaret regarding her experience of purchasing her hearing aids. Margaret was appalled when she learned that her hearing aids were not covered by insurance. Margaret used Viagra as an example of something that is covered.  Karen Putz, who is the author of Chicago Moms Blog, wrote an article relating to Patrick’s video.

What is the challenge? Let’s make this blog (see link below) go viral!  Please share this blog with family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues!  Encourage them to take this challenge!

So won’t you help us? http://www.chicagomomsblog.com/2010/03/insurance-companies-cover-viagra-but-not-hearing-aids-rtp.html

Viagra, Covered. Hearing Aids Are Not.

That’s right, insurance companies will provide coverage for Viagra, but not for hearing aids.  It is time to change that!

http://tinyurl.com/insurance4hearingaids

Action Needed for S.B. 2516 –What to Do

Folks, Good News: Illinois Senate Bill 2516 made it TEMPORARILY out of the insurance committee!!

This is THANKS to all of you who placed calls to your Senators and the Insurance Committee.  This is fantastic and we need to continue our calls!  Your phone calls, postcards and letters are working!!  

What happens now?

It has been re-referred to the Assignment Committee. Why?  We are still working on the amendment language of the bill.  A team of LEGAL professionals, who have strong background in lobbying, are providing their wonderful talent to help me out. 

What do we need to do?

We need to call the Assignment Committee:

Targeted Members & phone numbers are as follows:

Senator James F. Clayborne, Jr………..217-782-5399

Senator Dale A. Righter………………….217-782-6674

Senator Kirk W. Dillard…………………..217-782-8148

Also, we need to continue to call the remaining Insurance Committee Members as follows:

Senator William R. Haine…….217-782-5247

Senator Bill Brady…………….217-782-6216

Senator J. Bradley Burzynski: 217-782-1977

Senator Dan Duffy……………217-782-8010

Senator Dale E. Risinger……..217-782-1942

Senator Dave Syverson……..217-782-5413

Lastly, we need to get work on getting more Senators to sign on as co-sponsors. I realize this is a lot of work… however it takes ALL of us to make this happen. It is important to share your story with your Senator and tell them how important this bill is for you or a loved one. Remind your Senators that you are a tax payer and a voter… Please be respectful when you call your Senators. If you have questions, please feel free to contact me via email: jchavez@progresscil.org or call me at 630-324-0281, please do leave a message along with your name and your contact number.

Thank you to all of you for your support!

JulieAnn Chavez

Illinois Folks Speak Out for Hearing Aid Coverage

John Schmidt – Hearing Aids Should Be Covered By Insurance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DietLo_fVI

 

 

Carly Callans and her hearing aids

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cI-3L9Cy94

 

Carey Seigel – I want hearing aids covered by insurance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xMN6_xQz8-8

Special thanks to Patrick Hughes from Inclusion Solutions for the videos.

Deadline to Pass Hearing Aid Insurance Bill Coming Up

Folks!! The deadline to get SB2516 out of the insurance committee is looming… I urge all of you to call the members of the insurance committee EVERY DAY!  Encourage your friends and family to make calls– the more calls we generate, the more we can make this bill into law!

 Senator William R. Haine…….217-782-5247

Senator Bill Brady…………….217-782-6216

Senator J. Bradley Burzynski..217-782-1977

Senator Dan Duffy…………..217-782-8010

Senator Dale E. Risinger…….217-782-1942

Senator Dave Syverson……..217-782-5413

 Let the Senators know how important SB2516 is to you or to your loved one. Tell them that hearing aids are a medical necessity!! Hearing aids require a prescription!!! Stay tuned for more updates on SB 2516!!

Best, JulieAnn Chavez

Keep on Calling for S.B. 2516, Update on Hearing Date

I am aware that many of you are watching the ilga.gov website for latest updates on the bill and scheduling of hearings.

SB2516 is shown to have a hearing on Thursday, March 4th- The hearing will NOT be taking place.

Please know that the SB2516 is still being negotiated at this point in time and it is still actively being worked on… We are doing GREAT!

Postings scheduled hearings are shown on the ilga.gov website- however, the Chief Sponsor (legislator) of the Bill does NOT have to call it- they can reschedule as needed. When the Chief Senator of SB2516 does confirm a hearing- he will notify me and I will share the information with all of you.

I am in contact with our lead Senator daily to receive latest updates on the bill.

So if you see a hearing posted for SB2516, please confirm with me before announcing it to anyone to avoid confusion.

To confirm with me you can email me at jchavez@progresscil.org or you can call me at 630-324-0281 or leave a message with our secretary at 708-209-1500.

Please know that as soon as I receive updates on SB2516, I will share it all with you!

In the mean time, keep calling your Senators daily!! Stay tuned for more information!!

Call the following Senators DAILY!!
Senator William R. Haine…….217-782-5247
Senator Bill Brady…………….217-782-6216 (hint: he’s running for Governor)
Senator J. Bradley Burzynski: 217-782-1977
Senator Dan Duffy……………217-782-8010
Senator Dale E. Risinger……..217-782-1942
Senator Dave Syverson……..217-782-5413

Best,
JulieAnn

S. B 68 is now S. B. 2516 for Insurance for Hearing Aids!

S. B. 68 is now S. B. 2516.  It is in the insurance committee and will be considered on Wednesday, February 24, 2010.  This week is critical for the bill– call your Senators and get them to sign on as a co-sponsor of this bill.

A message from Julie Chavez, who is leading this cause:

Okay folks!!! We have a lot to do this week and we need YOUR HELP!!!

Illinois Senate Bill 2516 will be heard before the Insurance Committee on Wednesday, February 24th at 4:00 pm in the State Capitol located in Springfield, Illinois in Capitol Room 400. Please come on down to Springfield to talk to your Senators and encouraging them to sign on as sponsors… please join us at the hearing at 4:00 pm. You will need to arrive early to fill out witness slips for the hearing..

If you can not make it, please send me an email at julieann.progresscil@gmail.com this is for Illinois residents only. I have an idea of how you can show your support but I need to CONFIRM before I open my mouth!! LOL! Once I get a confirmation… I will share my idea with you..

A little explanation about the Insurance Committee. Insurance Committee has 12 members (see below). In order to get Senate Bill 2516 OUT of the Insurance Committee, we need to have 7 votes. As of today, we have 4 members of the Insurance Committee who are currently signed on as Sponsors for the bill. The 4 sponsors are: Senator Ira I. Silverstein who is the Chief sponsor for SB2516. Senator Jacqueline Y. Collins, who is the Chief Co-sponsor. Senator Gary Forby and Senator Mike Jacobs, who are co-sponsors as well. This means we have 4 votes out of 7!!! We just need three more!!!

What do we need to do?? We need to bombard the Insurance Committee members offices with our calls to get them to sign on as sponsors for SB2516. We need to call the members of the committee that are NOT signed on as sponsors. Only call the ones who have their phone numbers listed next to their names.

Chairperson : William R. Haine-D……….217-782-5247
Vice-Chairperson : Jacqueline Y. Collins-D
Member: Gary Forby-D
Member: Rickey R. Hendon-D…….217-782-6252
Member: Mike Jacobs-D
Member: Antonio Mu単oz-D………..217-782-9415
Member: Ira I. Silverstein-D
Minority Spokesperson : Bill Brady-R………………..217-782-6216
Member: J. Bradley Burzynski-R…..217-782-1977
Member: Dan Duffy-R………………217-782-8010
Member: Dale E. Risinger-R………..217-782-1942
Member: Dave Syverson-R…………217-782-5413

How badly do you want this bill to pass?? Are we going to allow the Insurance Industry to continue to SILENCE us?? NO WAY!! It’s time to tell them that we will NO LONGER BE SILENCED!!!!! Are we going to let legislators tell us that this won’t pass?? Ask them, who is more important?? THEY BEST BE TELLING YOU THAT YOU OR THE ILLINOIS RESIDENTS ARE MORE IMPORTANT!!! Remind the Senators that you are a tax payer and a VOTER!!! Take 15 minutes out of your day to call the above!! We need to call on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week!! Folks, let’s make some NOISE in the capitol!!! Let’s get those phones ringing off the hook all day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday!!!!

We have postcards that we can share with all of you to send to your senators as well… Shoot me an email and I’ll send them to you!!

Senate Bill 68 makes it on ABC Channel 7!!

On Sunday, May 24, 2009 ABC Channel 7’s Karen Meyer did a compelling segment on Senate Bill 68 (SB68) of which is legislation mandating insurance companies to provide insurance coverage with no age restrictions. The segment included Senator Ira Silverstein who is the sponsor for SB68, Dana Craig of LIFE Center for Independent Living and JulieAnn Chavez of DuPage Center for Independent Living. If you missed the segment, you can still view it online.   Senate Bill 68 on ABC 7 Chicago
The deadline for SB68 is May 31st! Please take the time to call your legislator and ask him/her to co-sponsor Senate Bill 68!
We wish to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Karen Meyer of ABC 7 Chicago for taking the time to assist us in getting the word out on SB68!

We also wish to thank Senator Ira Silverstein for his diligence in pushing Senate Bill through.

SB 68 Update–Keep Pushing for It!

Calling Senators on the road

SB 68 is still very much alive.  We have an extension until May 31st, this means we need to really ramp up the calls, emails, letters and faxes to the Illinois Senators.

Take a look at the current sponsors:

Senate Sponsors
Sen. Ira I. Silverstein – Jacqueline Y. Collins – Martin A. Sandoval, Dan Cronin, A. J. Wilhelmi, Don Harmon, M. Maggie Crotty, Deanna Demuzio and Mattie Hunter

These are the Senators who believe that the time is now to provide insurance coverage to Illinois residents of all ages.   Just recently, Arkansas became the very first state to pass a bill requiring insurance coverage for hearing aids for Arkansas residents of all age.   Other states are beginning to draft bills to pass similar coverage.  We are gathering momentum, but we need a huge push from each and every one of you reading this.

Call each of the Senators above and thank them for sponsoring this bill.  Then call YOUR local Senator and tell them to please co-sponsor this bill and support it. 

Here is a list of all the Illinois Senators and their contact information:  Illinois Senators

Here’s how to find out who is your Illinois Senator: Find Senators by Address

The deadline is May 31st to get this bill to the floor and voted on. Call, write, email, fax, visit YOUR Senator and the following Senators (thank the co-sponsors!):

Here’s the contact information for the Senators:

Senator Ira Silverstein (Bill sponsor) isilverstein@senatedem.ilga.gov     217-782-5500

Senator Jacqueline Collins (Bill co-sponsor) : senatorcollins@sbcglobal.net 217-782-1607

Senator Dan Cronin (Bill co-sponsor): 630-792-0040

Senator Martin Sandoval (Bill co-sponsor): (708) 656-2002

Senator A. J. Wilhemi (Bill co-sponsor): (217) 782-8800

Senator Don Harmon (Bill co-sponsor): (217) 782-8176

Senator M. Maggie Crotty (Bill co-sponsor): (708) 687-9696

Senator Deanna Demuzio (Bill co-sponsor)

Senator Mattie Hunter (Bill co-sponsor)

 

Senator William Haine (heads the subcommittee): whaine@senatedem.ilga.gov    217-782-5247

Senator Duffy: dan@senatorduffy.com  217-782-8010
Senator Forby: gforby@senatedem.ilga.gov     217-782-5509
Senator Hendon: ihammons@senatedem.ilga.gov      217-782-6252
Senator Burzynski: senatorbrad@verizon.net     217-782-1977
Senator Munoz: amunoz@senatedem.ilga.gov      217-782-9415
Senator Syverson: info@senatordavesyverson.com      217-782-5413
Senator Hayes: jhayes@sentedem.ilga.gov   

The time is now to get this bill passed.  Let’s make it happen.

Kids in Oklahoma Wait Up to a Year for Hearing Aids

According to this recent news item:

Joanna Smith, Hearts for Hearing chief executive officer, said the high cost of technology and the lack of coverage by insurance providers prevent many babies diagnosed with hearing loss at birth from being fit with hearing aids for more than a year.

It isn’t just babies in Illinois that do not have the benefit of insurance coverage for hearing aids, it is people of all ages.   We are still waiting to hear the outcome of SB 68 which would provide insurance coverage to Illinois residents of all ages.  There’s a chance we could have an extension on it and the possiblity of getting it moved to the floor.  If that doesn’t happen, we know we’ll draft another bill and have another go at it.  We started out with just one Senator behind the bill, Senator Ira Silverstein.  We now have seven Senators sponsoring this bill:
Sen. Ira I. Silverstein – Jacqueline Y. Collins – Martin A. Sandoval, Dan Cronin, A. J. Wilhelmi, Don Harmon and M. Maggie Crotty.

Senator William Haine  has been very supportive of this and he leads the subcommittee for this bill.

Come and join us on Facebook where we are growing in numbers each day:

Hearing Aid Action on Facebook.

Remember, we can always take this to the federal level and get a law passed to provide insurance coverage for everyone of all ages.

The time is now to make it happen!

More insurance coverage for hearing aids in the news:

Wisconsin Pushes for Hearing Aid and Cochlear Implant Insurance Coverage

Wisconsin Wants Hearing Aid Coverage for Children

Eight Cents for Insurance Coverage for Hearing Aids