It's a day ending in -y, which means California Governor Gavin Newsom is embroiled in yet another scandal involving the wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars. This time, it involves hearing aids for children.
Gavin Newsom ripped as hearing aid debacle burns millions https://t.co/BO8PCYV22o pic.twitter.com/b4YJvVwQNJ
— New York Post (@nypost) May 14, 2026
Child advocates and lawmakers are furious with Gov. Gavin Newsom as California’s pediatric hearing aid program has spent tens of millions of dollars on administrative fees while delivering only a few hundred hearing aids.
Nearly five years after Newsom pushed lawmakers toward a state-run alternative instead of requiring private insurers to cover pediatric hearing aids, California’s Hearing Aid Coverage for Children Program had around 300 active enrolled members despite spending almost $23 million, according to a report delivered last month to a state Senate budget committee. That works out to about $76,000 per person.
Michelle Marciniak, founder of Let California Kids Hear, told The Post that the governor’s office has dropped the ball.
Newsom vetoed a bill that would have required insurance to cover hearing aids.
In 2023 Newsom was given a bill to sign that would have required private insurers to cover hearing aids for children. Many other states require insurers to cover them.
— MAZE (@mazemoore) May 14, 2026
According to NY Post, Newsom vetoed the bill and decided instead to have the state provide the hearing aids.… https://t.co/3ue0x6Ylpq pic.twitter.com/3LwRSa6L6w
The average cost for hearing aids is about $2,000-$6,000 per pair, depending on technology. That means, with the $23 million spent, Newsom should have been able to provide hearing aids to at least 3,800 children.
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Voters: "Insurance should cover hearing aids"
— varrock (@varrock) May 14, 2026
Newsom: "No. Instead let's send $23,000,000 of taxpayer money to a nonprofit connected to my wife. They'll only provide 300 hearing aids, even though 20,000 kids need them. That's about $76k per hearing aid. F**k the deaf kids." https://t.co/Q0F5cTx3tm
While there's no apparent connection between the hearing aid nonprofits on Newsom's wife this time, it would not surprise us. Jennifer Siebel Newsom has ties to Baby2Baby, the nonprofit that will be paid millions to distribute 'free' diapers to 100,000 newborns. That's about $0.50 per diaper, far above the normal retail price.
How many NGO scams was Newsom running? I'm losing count. https://t.co/Pox3LkHEHu
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) May 15, 2026
However many it is, it's going to make Minnesota's fraud look like child's play.
Is there anything @GavinNewsom has overseen that isn’t self serving, incompetent or rife with fraud, waste and abuse?
— GoldenState (@state69235) May 14, 2026
-train
-fires
-diapers
-covid
-fast food minimum wage
-homeless
-hospice https://t.co/PyZCSUzSRR
And the list keeps growing.
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