Rally for SB 68 Hearing Aid Insurance Bill

Today, I’m heading down to Springfield for a meeting to discuss SB 68 which would provide insurance coverage for hearing aids for Illinois residents of all ages.   A group of us will be meeting with the opponents of the bill to hopefully reach a common ground in pushing a bill through for insurance coverage for hearing aids.  Surprising to me is that the Illinois Academy of Audiology is one of the opponents for this bill.  It is my understanding that they prefer to limit coverage to children only.

I know that there is a lot of fear that insurance premiums would rise outrageously if we were to pass this bill.  I honestly don’t believe that will be the case.  The bill is very reasonable– providing $2,500 coverage per ear, once every five years.

Reasonable.

Many insurance companies are now at the point where they cover bilateral cochlear implants without the long battles of yesteryear.  One of my friends obtained bilateral cochlear implants not too long ago and she shared that the bill came to $225,000.  She loves her implants and is enjoying all the new sounds she’s hearing each day.  I am thrilled for her.  I just want the same coverage for my family.  There are ten of us with hearing aids.  The hubby and I are wearing hearing aids that could use some repair.  He’s got a broken T-switch.  I have a broken battery door.  We both could use new hearing aids but we’ll have to flip a coin to decide who gets one first.  We hold off, because this is the last year our children quality for state aid for their hearing aids.  What if one of them goes out? 

Consider this– if all of us were to get new hearing aids at once, it is a tiny, tiny fraction of the cost of all of us getting bilateral cochlear implants.  Just something to think about when we talk about insurance coverage. 

Tomorrow, there will be a rally down in Springfield, hosted by CCDI and INCIL at noon.  Meet at Adams Street, by the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel & Conference Center, 701 East Adams Street, Springfield, IL.  Tomorrow is the deadline for this bill to be brought to the floor.  What does this mean?  It means that each one of us has to take some time TODAY to call your Senator and tell them you want this bill voted on and passed.

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 April 30th 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 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.

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Marlee Matlin Signs Her Book, “I’ll Scream Later”

What a weekend!

We headed out to the Oak Brook Borders on Friday night to meet Marlee Matlin at her book signing.  Marlee crafted her autobiography “I’ll Scream Later” as a tell-all book and judging from the headlines of the articles swimming around, her book has revealed some surprising secrets:

Marlee Matlin Book:  William Hurt Abused Me

Marlee Matlin Reveals Abusive Relationship

Babysitter’s Abuse Lead to a Life of Drugs, Violence

There was quite a crowd of people that night.  Marlee began the evening by reading an excerpt from her book with Jack Jason voicing.  Each of us had received wristbands when we arrived and we went up in groups of 50.  Marlee looked really beautiful and was extremely gracious to everyone.  I was amazed at her stamina, she signed book after book without faltering and considering that this was her fourth book signing in a week, it was amazing to see how she kept it all up until the very last book was signed.

I brought my Z-340 videophone with me and connected with Tim Rarus (Deaf President Now leader/ VP of Sales) and Sean Belanger (CSDVRS CEO) while I was waiting in line and they had a quick opportunity to chat with Marlee as well.  It was so neat to see the technology at work– who could have envisioned this a few years ago? 

(Photo courtesy of Dino Lomanto)

Yes, those are my younger two kids with me–David was too busy chatting with his friends to get in line.  On the way home, I started reading the book and didn’t put it down until one in the morning.  Later, I found out that many of my friends did the same thing after they left the bookstore– one gal stayed up through most of the night until she finished it. 

I tried to figure out what was so compelling about this book, this peek inside of the life of undoubtly the most famous actress who happens to be deaf–what kept me turning page after page of this book?  I came away with a sense of awe, because despite the dark chapters and the very rough parts to read through, Marlee has “chutzpah.” (Translation: bold guts!)  She has that fiesty spirit inside that allows one to accomplish dream after dream.  That’s what made this book and the story of her life stand out.

My favorite line from the book is simply this: 

My life is rich and I am blessed, and I am grateful.   That I am Deaf is just a footnote.  It is a part of who I am, but far from all of who I am.

That Says It All

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It’s Crazy Hair Day…

It’s Crazy Hair Day at school.

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The Best Part of the Spring Break Road Trip

We arrived at the Marriott Grande Ocean hotel late in the afternoon on Sunday, March 29th.  The ocean stretched for miles at the edge of the hotel and it was hard to believe that we had just left a cold Chicago behind.  It was very windy on the beach and there were very few people out and about.  As I was snapping pictures of the kids, an older couple stopped their bikes and asked if we wanted a family picture.  The wind was quite fierce and sand was blowing everywhere.  They took two pictures and struck up a conversation.

They owned a time share on the beach and had been coming to Hilton Head for 31 years.  The couple looked like they were in their mid 70s.

 ”What keeps you coming back to this island?” I asked. 

“Oh, we just love it here!  There’s so much to do and it’s just beautiful here.  We ride our bikes several miles each day all over the beach and the island.”   They gave us some tips of where to go and places to eat.  From the smiles on their faces, it was easy to see that they enjoyed themselves.  I could see why they enjoyed the island–it was indeed a beautiful place to be.

Soon after we left the beach, we jumped into a hot tub, joining another family with three generations that was lounging there.  None of us had our hearing aids on at that point but we managed to chat.  The family was spending their second year on the island and they had come back to the same hotel.  It was amazing to see how the island drew back people– but by the end of our trip, we held the same feeling of wanting to visit the island again.

The very next day turned out to be one of the most memorable parts of the trip:

Flying Kites At the Beach.

Kayaking in the marshland

Kayaking in the marshland

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Road Trip Across America

Yes, we’re back and I’m finally sitting down to share.

This year, the kids had the same spring break.  Last year we had the kids in three different schools and on two different spring breaks.  So when the kid’s calendars lined up this year and the hubby took a volunteered week off due to job cuts at work, we figured it was a sign that we should grab the week and do something.  I didn’t count on starting a new full-time job in January, but we managed to incorporate the job into the spring break. 

I planned to have a CSDVRS booth at Deafest in Carbondale at the end of the week, so we decided to take a road trip to Hilton Head Island.  My sister works for Marriott, so we were able to snag a two-bedroom condo at a rock bottom price right next to the ocean. 

We stayed in Kentucky the first night and went to the Slugger museum the next day.  The kids and the hubby voted to eat at Hooters.  Sadly, the chicken was a disappointment, but the two older kids walked away with Hooters t-shirts.  That’s right, they decided to spend their travel money on trashy t-shirts. 

We headed out to Atlanta and stayed overnight at the Kurt’s house.  You may recall Karen Kurt from my previous BookHands post.  The Kurts have a beautiful house and they definitely do not miss the Chicago weather.  For one brief moment that night, the kids said, “Hey, why don’t we move down here?”  We are planning to go back and visit again because we didn’t hit the hot tub that they have sitting in their backyard.

We arrived in Savannah, Georgia in the afternoon and decided to eat at Paula Deen’s restaurant.  The sign on the front said it was booked for the day, but the hostess said she could get us in.  On Sundays, the Lady and Sons only serves buffet and the meal is quite southern.  Paula’s famous fried chicken, mustard greens, black-eyed peas and that baked macaroni and cheese were some of the things I recognized from her shows.  For dessert, we had to choose from one of four items but they all looked so good that I told the waiter that I couldn’t possibly choose just one.  He winked and placed all four desserts down.  Good gawd, the butter cake is amazing.  I don’t even want to know how much butter is in there, it was worth it even if it shortened my life by a day.

Part two is coming tomorrow– stay tuned to find some neat people that we met on the trip.

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