A $4 fee increase to the cost of heritable and congenital testing of newborns is being sought to provide a constant source of funding for services to families of children with hearing-impairment disorders.
HF1819, sponsored by Rep. Erin Murphy (DFL-St. Paul), would raise the $101 cost for the blood spot test to $105. The money would be awarded by the health commissioner to a nonprofit organization, such as Lifetrack Resources, as a contract for service.
The House Housing Finance and Policy and Public Health Finance Division held the bill over for possible inclusion in its omnibus bill March 24. A companion, SF1512, sponsored by Sen. Sharon Erickson Ropes (DFL-Winona), awaits action by the Senate Health, Housing and Family Security Committee.
Last year, Lifetrack Resources used General Fund money to serve 929 families with children who have hearing impairment. Rather than ask for another one-time appropriation, the group hopes to receive $4 from each fee paid for the required newborn testing.
Mary Hartnett, director of the Minnesota Commission of Deaf, Deaf Blind and Hard of Hearing Minnesotans, said once a child is identified as deaf, the commission’s first call is to Lifetrack Resources, which provides parent-to-parent support services.
Laura Libby, the parent of a 16-month-old boy who is deaf, said the services gave her hope and helped her get assistance for her son that she might not otherwise have known about. Libby, who did not know anyone who was deaf prior to the birth of her son, said the agency’s Hands and Voices program gave her unbiased and nonjudgmental information about how to raise a child who is deaf. Her son, Blake, entered the program at 6 months of age and his language skills are expected to be on par with hearing children by the time he is 5 years old.
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