Charlotte Hornets forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is seen in an NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Dec. 29, 2019, in Memphis, Tenn. The Kentucky Senate voted on March 7, 2024, 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 Pulfer Focht, File)
As a result, many people don't get the care they need. But his legislation aims to change that, he said The bill would eliminate those arbitrary caps and require greater coverage for stuttering services, he said.
His Senate Bill 111 heads to the House next. Republicans have supermajorities in both chambers.
Kidd-Gilchrist pointed to his deep ties to Kentucky and his efforts to help other people struggling with stuttering in a recent op-ed published in the Lexington Herald-Leader. He wrote that he's traveled the Bluegrass State to "hear testimonies" from people who stutter and advocate on their behalf.
"I am pushing myself to use the very thing that can be a struggle — my voice — to speak up for the community I represent and whose voices often go unheard," he said.
"A primary obstacle to treatment for those who stutter is the way that insurance coverage is structured for this condition," he added.
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He said there's a "staggering lack of data" regarding the public’s awareness of those who stutter.
"For children and adults who stutter to be set up for success in life and overall quality of life improvements, it is necessary that they be given access to all necessary procedures — from diagnosis to treatment to long-term speech therapy maintenance," he wrote.
Speech therapy is the mainstay of stuttering treatment. Globally, 70 million people stutter and President Joe Biden has spoken publicly about being mocked by classmates and a nun in Catholic school for his own speech impediment. He said overcoming it was one of the hardest things he’s ever done.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ex-nba-player-helps-kentucky-bill-stutter-treatment-insurance-advance