CHEYENNE – Dan Furphy of Casper may be retired as a lawmaker, but his legacy lives on.
It was his bill passed by the 2024 budget session that created the “Adult Hearing Aid Program.”
Before that, Wyoming was the only state in the nation without a program or a committee to represent the hard-of-hearing community.
Furphy’s new program was created to assist residents aged 18 and older who have a significant hearing loss and limited income to obtain medically necessary hearing aids.
These people are not helped by the $500 hearing aids available on the open market. But they can’t afford the $4,000 to $6,000 cost of medical hearing aids, according to online accounts regarding the program.
The Department of Health’s rules for the program make it eligible for people with low income who are not eligible to receive hearing aids through private insurance, Medicaid for Medicare.
It covers people making less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. For a one-person household, that level is $31,300.
Department officials estimated that funding would be enough to support 30 to 34 eligible applicants during the first year, starting in August, 2025.
But that was only the first stage of Furphy’s plan. He also wanted to create a commission for the adult hard of hearing, like other states have established.
The idea persisted and is included on the Legislature’s list of interim topics for 2026.
It is ranked as the third priority issue for the Joint Appropriations Committee.
The first priority for the committee, in conjunction with the Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee, is the fate of the Wyoming Business Council.
Hopefully the ruckus over the Council will not gobble up all the time and money for the other interim studies.
The third stage of Furphy's plan also deserves attention.
It would mean a review of all aspects of service and delivery for blind and deaf people, and the feasibility of establishing a State Commission for the Deaf and Blind.
This could result in draft legislation for the 2027 general session.
During an interview with Wyoming Public Radio in 2024, Furphy said he got involved in the effort when he was greeted by a group of citizens who were deaf or had severe hearing loss.
“No one will listen to us, and we need help. Would you help us?" they asked.
He agreed and said it was obvious this group had serious problems, such as lack of interpreters.
For example, they said they could go to a doctor, but could not communicate with the doctor.
He said he went to Gov. Mark Gordon, who agreed something needed to be done and assigned a staff member to develop a plan.
“Long term, it would be great to have a Commission for the Deaf so we can have plans,” he said in the interview. “One of my concerns is, and I think we're doing OK, but children - we do have interpreters in the school districts, but some of them have only taken a course or two at our university. They're not truly - well, some are - but there are some that are not truly qualified to deal with the severe problems some of these children have in our state.
For years Wyoming had a School for the Deaf in Casper, but it closed permanently in 2005.
The state’s deaf and hearing-impaired students are now mainstreamed into their local classrooms in all 48 school districts.
Furphy’s program is a win for the Legislature as a whole. It showed that the division in parties and ideologies can be overcome for a common goal, even in a rough session like the 2024 budget session.
A self-described traditional Republican and moderate, Furphy said right-wing Freedom Caucus members helped him pass the bill.
At any rate, wouldn’t it be great to have something for our less fortunate neighbors who don’t have paid lobbyists to present their story to the Legislature.
I think it is important to remember Helen Keller, who lost her sight and hearing at 19 months of age from a childhood disease.
A champion of the Wyoming Foundation for the Blind for 40 years, she was a model for disabled people.
Asked once which she would choose if she could have her sight or hearing restored, she chose hearing.
She said then she could talk to people. She could communicate.
Contact Joan Barron at 307-632-2534or jmbarron@bresnan.net
