There was powerful testimony in Frankfort today from a mother whose son is both blind and deaf.

She's advocating for a change to Medicaid waivers, which would help her son and others like him.

Our Emily Sisk explains that and more as we begin tonight.

Legislative update.

It breaks my heart.

A Kentucky mother wants Medicaid waiver coverage to extend to community interveners people who help those with disabilities process what's going on around them.

She spoke to the Medicaid Oversight and Advisory Board today, joined by her son, who is both deaf and blind.

For a person who is deaf blind, the world is full of information they cannot see and cannot hear without someone trying to bridge that gap.

Everyday life becomes confusing.

Isolating and sometimes dangerous.

A community intervener is the person who makes the world accessible.

Senate Bill 345, sponsored by Senator Julie Rocky Adams, would require the waiver program to cover community intervenor services.

The Kentucky mother explained why those services are so vital to someone like her son.

If someone who can help him understand what's happening around him, it's someone who can break down the noise, describe the environment, and help him navigate safely.

It's someone who can make sure he isn't just present.

He's participating.

Members of the Medicaid Oversight and Advisory Board expressed support for the bill, which has yet to be heard in a standing committee.

We know this is why the Medicaid program exists, and it's to help individuals access those health care services to improve their lives and make them more, more, integrated into society.

The board also discussed House Bill 169, sponsored by Representative Ken Fleming, which has to do with insurance coverage for eating disorders.

The legislation says insurance companies cannot deny or limit coverage based on standards like ideal body weight or body mass index.

Eating disorders basically is, to my opinion, based on my experience and I'll talking to other folks.

It's a mental health, wellness issue.

And so we want to ensure that insurance coverage continues despite meeting the BMI that insurance continues to coverage.

A fellow board member said this legislation could help save lives.

Eating disorders have been the most overlooked, misunderstood, untreated, and they very often result in death.

So this is incredibly important.

House Bill 169 passed out of the House in early February.

It awaits a committee assignment in the Senate.

For Kentucky edition, I'm Emily Sisk.