December 14, 2006

Congress Extends Therapy Cap Exception Process & Halts Scheduled Fee Cuts
According to Lommietta G. McNeilly from ASHA:
“This past weekend, Congress passed H.R. 6111, the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, which includes provisions to extend the therapy cap exception process and halts the scheduled 5% cut in the Medicare fee schedule for speech-language pathology, audiology and other providers. President Bush is expected to sign the legislation in the near future.

The legislation calls for a one-year extension of the therapy cap exception process which was authorized by Congress as part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2006. Therapy services are capped at an annual per-patient level of $1,780 for speech-language pathology and physical therapy combined. There is a separate cap of $1,780 for occupational therapy. Information on the exception process that allows beneficiaries in need of medically-necessary services above the therapy caps to receive those services can be found at http://www.asha.org/members/issues/reimbursement/exception_process.htm.
The legislation also stops the scheduled 5% cut to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) for 2007. In addition to freezing this rate at 2006 levels, Congress also authorized a 1.5% bonus for eligible providers that report quality measures. Because of outcomes measures developed by ASHA, speech-language pathologists (SLP) are specifically defined as eligible for the bonus beginning in 2008. ASHA will continue to work with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in adopting the National Outcomes Measurement System (NOMS) as the quality measurement tool for SLP services. Additional information on NOMS can be found at http://www.asha.org/members/research/noms/.

As part of the negotiations on the Medicare legislation, ASHA moved one step closer toward its legislative priority of recognizing speech-language pathologists in private practice as suppliers under the Medicare outpatient program. This recognition would allow SLPs to bill Medicare through their own billing number. The version of the legislation proposed by Senate contained the SLP supplier language. However, in negotiations with the House of Representatives, the language was dropped due to concerns raised about the possible cost to Medicare.

For further information on ASHA's legislative efforts, please contact Elizabeth Mundinger, ASHA’s Director of Federal and Political Advocacy, by e-mail at emundinger@asha.org or by calling 800-498-2071, ext. 4473. For more information concerning the exceptions process and quality measures, please contact Ingrida Lusis, ASHA’s Director of Health Care Regulatory Advocacy, by e-mail at ilusis@asha.org or at 800-498-2071, ext. 4482.”

December 7, 2006

Orvin E. Walsvik
WSHA Past President

Orvin E. Waslvik, a WSHA Past President passed away at the age of 83 on Tuesday, November 21. Click here to read a complete obituary for Orvin Walsvik.

November 28, 2006

Mary Frances Burns Johnson
Speech-Language Pathologist
Fox Point-Bayside School District
Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin
Private Practice

Wisconsin lost a great speech-language pathologist October 19 2006…the children and families she served, her colleagues, her friends and family, the future speech-language pathologists she mentored each feel the empty space she leaves behind.  Several years ago, one of her young students took a moment to reply to the question, “Do you like speech with Mrs. Johnson?”  “I’d walk five miles for speech with Mrs. Johnson” was his firm reply.  Mary Burns Johnson proved many times that she was a dedicated speech-language pathologist—the thousands of children whose communication skills improved under her steady guidance, her leadership in North Shore (Milwaukee) special education, her persistence in achieving a graduate degree at Marquette University while she continued to work and care for her post stroke husband, her leadership in raising alumni funds to help support the new facility for the Speech Pathology and Audiology Program at Marquette University.  Our consolation for her loss is the inspiration she provides for each person who knew her and benefited from her presence.  We will each do better and work harder in an effort to carry on where she left off.  To Mary…a speech-language pathologist’s speech-language pathologist!

November 28, 2006

ACTION ALERT: Urge Your Legislators to Extend the Medicare Therapy Caps Exceptions Process

Unless Congress acts during an upcoming lame-duck session, in less than 50 days, Medicare beneficiaries in need of outpatient therapy services will once again be subject to the arbitrary limits imposed by the therapy caps.   The exceptions process imposed by Congress as part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, is set to expire December 31, 2006.   The combined SLP-PT therapy cap of $1780 for 2006 will have a significant impact on Medicare beneficiaries whose conditions require extensive outpatient therapy services.

ASHA continues to lobby Congress urging not only to extend the therapy cap exceptions process, but also for inclusion of legislative language requiring the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to develop an alternative payment policy which will more accurately take into account the patients’ need for therapy.  In addition, ASHA will continue to press Congress to pass a provision allowing speech-language pathologists in private practice to bill Medicare for their services.

You can send an email in a few minutes by visiting ASHA’s Take Action website at http://takeaction.asha.org/asha2/issues/alert/?alertid=9170841&type=CO. Your continued emails, calls and letters are needed to help keep these issues before Congress. 

For additional information, please contact Elizabeth Mundinger, ASHA’s Director of Federal and Political Advocacy, at emundinger@asha.org or by phone at 800-498-2071, ext. 4473.

Thanks in advance for your advocacy!

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