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H 3342

Hearing aids

2025-2026 Regular Session Introduced by Gilda Cobb-Hunter and 1 co-sponsor

Allows remote participation in municipal meetings and gives local boards limited power to postpone local elections under emergencies, with safeguards.

Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry
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Bill Summary · H 3342

Summary — H.3342 (Conflicting/Combined Texts in File)

Note on source material: The submitted file appears to combine two different bills from different jurisdictions. The primary Massachusetts House docket (House No. 3342) is titled “An Act to modernize municipal meetings, town meetings, and local elections.” The same submission also contains the full text of a South Carolina bill (adding Section 38‑71‑48) concerning mandatory hearing‑aid coverage by health plans. Below are clear, separate summaries of each so readers can understand both pieces and the procedural status information included in the file.

A. Massachusetts: “An Act to modernize municipal meetings, town meetings, and local elections” (House No. 3342)

Purpose

To authorize and modernize remote participation in municipal public‑body meetings and to give local select boards limited authority to postpone or reschedule municipal elections under specified circumstances.

Key provisions

  • Adds Section 20A to Chapter 30A (open meeting law) allowing public bodies to permit remote participation by members (phone, audio/video, or other tech).
    • Remote participants count as present for quorum and may vote.
    • If members participate remotely, votes must be roll‑call votes.
    • Public access must be provided via adequate alternative means (no subscription/toll charges).
    • Documents used at meetings must be made available to the public before or during the meeting (subject to legal limits).
    • Where participation by the public is required by law/charter, remote access must preserve that participation right.
    • Municipalities with economic hardship may post a full transcript/record of proceedings afterward instead of providing live alternatives.
    • Local chief executive may set municipal standards; local disability commissions may adopt their own standards for their meetings; state/county/regional bodies may adopt their own standards.
  • Attorney General to develop best practices for remote participation within 90 days; proposed guidelines require a public hearing and a 2‑week notice period before taking effect.
  • Inserts new sections into Chapter 39 (local elections):
    • Authorizes a select board to vote to delay an annual election to a date no earlier than 64 days after the vote to postpone and no later than June 30 of that fiscal year.
    • During declared weather/public safety/public health emergencies (and for 5 days after termination), select boards may postpone caucuses/elections to an initial date certain or vote expeditiously on a new date after consultation with the town clerk if an initial date cannot be set.
    • (Text truncated in file — likely contains procedural rules about deadlines, nomination papers, and other technical adjustments.)

Who is affected

  • Municipal public bodies (boards, committees, commissions) across cities and towns in Massachusetts
  • Municipal staff (town clerks, chief executives)
  • Members of the public who attend/participate in local meetings
  • Voters and candidates affected by potential local election postponements

Procedural status / timeline (from file)

  • Prefiled: 2024‑12‑05
  • Introduced/read first time: 2025‑01‑14
  • Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry: 2025‑01‑14 (also recorded as referred to State Administration and Regulatory Oversight on 2025‑02‑27 in another entry)
  • Senate concurred: 2025‑02‑27 (file contains inconsistent action records)
  • Hearing(s) scheduled: 10/14/2025 (two entries)
  • Related bill: HD 2863 (replaces)

B. South Carolina: Hearing‑aid coverage (Text added as Section 38‑71‑48)

Note: This is a separate state bill text included within the same file. It is not part of the Massachusetts bill above.

Purpose

Require health insurance and group health benefit plans in South Carolina to cover hearing aids and replacement hearing aids for insureds with documented hearing impairment.

Key provisions

  • Definitions: “Hearing aid,” “audiologist,” “insurer,” “health insurance plan,” “State Health Plan,” and “department” (Dept. of Insurance).
  • Requires all health insurance plans (including State Health Plan) to cover billed charges for one hearing aid per impaired ear.
  • Dept. of Insurance must promulgate minimum coverage rates and limits for adult and child hearing aids; rates must cover reasonable and customary hearing aids.
  • Dept. must compile an approved list of licensed audiologists/hearing‑aid dealers every two years.
  • Hearing loss must be documented by a licensed physician or audiologist to qualify.
  • Prohibits plans from denying or restricting coverage solely because of a prior hearing‑loss diagnosis.
  • Allows insureds to buy more expensive aids by paying the difference without penalty to provider or insurer.
  • Effective date: July 1, 2025; applies to policies issued, renewed, delivered, or entered into on/after that date.

Who is affected

  • Insurers, HMOs, and other entities issuing group health plans in South Carolina
  • Covered individuals with hearing impairment
  • Audiologists and hearing‑aid dealers licensed in South Carolina
  • State Health Plan participants

If you want, I can:
- Produce a focused one‑page legislative summary for either the Massachusetts or South Carolina bill only;
- Extract and summarize the remaining (truncated) portions of Chapter 39 amendments if you can provide the missing text;
- Draft a short explainer on how the Massachusetts remote‑participation rules would interact with existing open‑meeting and election statutes.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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