TRENTON, N.J., January 24 – A barrage of bills have been proposed in the new legislative session to require health insurance companies to cover programs to help people quit smoking, lose weight, and stop gambling.

Bills are also in requiring insurance to help pay for hearing aids, wigs and hair pieces prescribed because of hair loss due to chemotherapy, medically prescribed baby formulas, various prosthetic devices, and removal of corns and bunions. They are among the 32 proposals dealing with health insurance, as more and more laws are being added in an effort to define what health insurers must provide in the way of coverages not generally offered in an average policy.

Typical of this new surge to get more coverages added is Assembly bill 1613, which would make HMOs on a fee-for-service basis cover medically prescribed programs to fight obesity. The sponsor is Assemblyman Herbert Conaway (D-Burlington County), a physician.

He points out in his bill statement that 61 percent of adults in this country are either overweight or obese. Conaway then lists the danger of obesity and why it must be treated.

The legislation statement reads: People that are overweight and obese are at risk of high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, angina pectoris, congestive heart failure, stroke, gallstones, cholescystitis, osteoarthritis, obstructive sleep apnea, respiratory problems, some types of cancer, bladder control problems, and psychological disorders.

Conaway Addresses Smoking, Too

Another bill, A1616 wants health insurance companies to offer coverage for the special programs for persons trying to quit smoking. Conaway is sponsor of this proposal too.

He notes in the bills statement, Although tobacco use is the leading cause or premature morbidity and mortality in the United States with over 400,000 deaths each year, insurance coverage for cessation services is uncommon.

The relatively high cost of effective smoking cessation treatments presents some of the most formidable obstacles that low-income smokers face in attempting to quit. There is evidence that providing insurance coverage for cessation programs saves lives and money.

Helping Gamblers

Then theres A971 calling for coverage of necessary medical expenses to help people quit gambling. Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Union County) said her bill to help pay for treatment of compulsive gamblers seeks to ensure that individuals who suffer from pathological gambling are entitled to health insurance coverage so that they may receive adequate and proper treatment for their condition.

She says in her statement, A person suffering from a pathological gambling disorder who has an uncontrollable preoccupation and obsession to gamble may still lead a productive life with the help of appropriate counseling, support and other medically necessary treatments.

And the bill defines pathological gambling as a persistent and recurrent maladaptive behavior disorder in which an individual has an uncontrollable preoccupation and obsession to gamble.

Coverage for Hearing Aids

Another bill, A1366, wants health insurance companies to offer coverage to buy hearing aids. This bill notes that 28 million Americans are deaf or hard of hearing and 90 percent of people with hearing loss may be helped by wearing a hearing aid, but only five million people in the United States own a hearing aid.

And it reports that the cost of hearing aids range from approximately $350 to $5,200 depending on whether a conventional hearing or digital hearing aid is purchased.

Assemblywoman Joan Quigley (D-Hudson County) is the sponsor of the hearing aid proposal. The insurance coverage would be limited to a first purchase and fitting of a medically prescribed aid, and the total costs could not exceed $6,000.

Politicians have carefully worded the proposals so the particular treatments being proposed for coverage are medically prescribed, and the policy will cost more.

Similar bills calling for these extended coverages were proposed during past legislative sessions, but were not passed.