The Kentucky Senate voted Thursday to expand insurance coverage for people seeking treatment for stuttering, and the bill’s sponsor credited a former basketball star for his contributions.
The Senate’s action to advance the bill comes after Michael Kidd Gilchrist supported the bill during a Senate committee hearing. Kidd Gilchrist played on the national championship team at the University of Kentucky and then played in the NBA for several years.
But it was his willingness to speak candidly about his own struggle with a stutter that won him praise Thursday.
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“He was a hero who used his position and influence to do good for people who didn’t have the resources he had access to, and he made a difference in the situation,” said Republican state Sen. Whitney Westerfield. He is a person who will make a big difference.”
Westerfield said his bill aims to help more Kentuckians get the treatment they need.
“There are many Kentuckians…some uninsured, some insured, but no matter what their needs are, they are limited by these arbitrary caps. For example, 20 times You just have a home-visit therapy session and that’s it,” he said. “You might need 10 times that, but you can’t get it. So unless you have gold-plated insurance, and most Kentuckians don’t, you end up paying for it out of pocket.” You will have to pay.”
Charlotte Hornets forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist participates in an NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies on December 29, 2019 in Memphis, Tennessee. On March 7, 2024, the Kentucky Senate voted to expand insurance coverage for people seeking treatment for stuttering. , and the bill’s sponsor credited the former basketball star with the assist. (AP Photo/Karen Palfer Vogt, File)
As a result, many people do not receive the care they need. But his bill aims to change that, he said, calling for the removal of these arbitrary caps and expanded coverage of stuttering services.
His Senate Bill 111 goes to the House next. Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers.
In a recent op-ed published in the Lexington Herald-Leader, Kidd-Gilchrist noted his deep ties to Kentucky and his efforts to help others who stutter. He wrote that he traveled to the Bluegrass State to “hear testimonies” from people who stutter and those who advocate on their behalf.
“I push myself to do the very thing that can be a struggle: use my voice to speak up for the community I represent, but that voice often goes unheard. ,” he said.
“The main barrier to treating people who stutter is how insurance covers this condition,” he added.
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He said there was a “stunning lack of data” regarding public perceptions of people who stutter.
“For children and adults who stutter to succeed in life and improve their overall quality of life, we provide them with all the steps they need, from diagnosis to treatment and maintenance of long-term speech therapy. “is necessary,” he wrote. .
Speech therapy is the core of stuttering treatment. Seventy million people worldwide stutter, and President Joe Biden has spoken publicly about being ridiculed by Catholic school classmates and nuns for his own speech impediment. He said overcoming it was one of the hardest things he’s ever done.
