Behind the bills: Furphy pushes for statewide hearing aid program

The senator’s bill that would create an adult hearing aid program for some eligible individuals. The bill was not reviewed or endorsed by a committee during the interim.

Select Wyoming individuals could soon find it easier to acquire hearing aids, if a proposal from Albany County’s Sen. Dan Furphy (SD-10) survives the 2024 Budget Session of the Wyoming Legislature.

Senate File 57 would establish the Wyoming Adult Hearing Aid Program, under which eligible individuals could acquire a pair of hearing aids and have them fitted for free. Eligibility would depend on an individual’s annual salary as well as their current insurance options.

“‘Eligible adult’ means a Wyoming resident not less than eighteen (18) years of age who has been diagnosed by a physician or audiologist with a hearing impairment that requires hearing aids and who has a monthly modified adjusted gross family income at or below two hundred percent (200%) of the federal poverty level,” the bill states. “To be determined eligible to receive hearing aids under this section, a person shall not be eligible to receive hearing aids through private insurance, Medicaid, Medicare or any other available third‑party payor for less than or equal to five hundred dollars ($500).”

The program’s starting cutoff for an individual would be an annual income of $29,160, which was 200 percent of the federal poverty line in 2023.

Furphy’s hearing aid program would be supported by general fund dollars. The bill sets aside  $90,000 for the hearing aids and fittings, and $9,000 to hire an individual in the Department of Health to "implement and administer [this] act.” 

One pair of hearing aids would be made available to each eligible applicant every five years.

The funding will revert back to the general fund if not spent.

The bill is co-sponsored by eight other lawmakers, which include Furphy’s Albany County colleagues Rep. Karlee Provenza (HD-45), Rep. Trey Sherwood (HD-14), and Rep. Ken Chestek (HD-13).