ASHA Focused Initiative

Reimbursement in Health and Education

First Quarter Progress Report
January-March 2007

For each of the 2007 Focused Initiatives, a work plan that includes the strategies to be completed in 2007 was developed. During the 1^st quarter of the year, the strategy implementation teams initiated activities necessary to complete the strategies by the dates indicated. View the 2007 work plan for each Focused Initiative. The following report highlights some of the actions that were initiated during the 1^st quarter and includes information on the status of all strategies included in the work plan at the end of the 1^st quarter. For additional information related to ASHA's Focused Initiatives please contact Stan Dublinske, Senior Advisor for Planning at sdublinske@asha.org.

1^st Quarter Highlights

The Model Superbills that can be used for billing for reimbursement and ICD-9 list have been updated for 2007.
Two PowerPoint presentations Appealing Denials and Billing & Coding have been posted on the ASHA Web site.
Grants to support private health plan advocacy efforts conducted by State Speech-Language-Hearing Associations have been provided to Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington.
The State Advocates for Reimbursement (STAR) Network has conducted three conference calls to prepare for meetings with representatives of employers, unions and health plans to advocate for increased coverage of audiology and speech-language pathology programs and services. All STAR members have received a copy of "Bargaining for Advantage: Negotiating Strategies for Reasonable People."
Workshops on negotiating for private health plan coverage for speech-language pathology and audiology coverage have been held in Alabama, Indiana, North Dakota, South Carolina, and New York.
Materials related to Audiologic Rehabilitation and reimbursement for audiologic rehabilitation are available on the ASHA Web site.
The Medicare Intermediaries and Carriers (MICS) Network assisted in supporting the speech-language pathology physical medicine CPT codes as proposed by Pennsylvania intermediary.
Discussions with the Academy of Rehabilitative Audiology to determine the audiologic rehabilitation (AR) reimbursement related issues and strategies for assisting members have resulted in draft legislative language to be used by Congressman Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) for a bill which he will introduce to the House of Representatives later this spring. The bill will provide Medicare coverage for hearing aids and auditory rehabilitation services for seniors with hearing loss which will optimize hearing with the use of hearing aids.
The School Finance Committee (SFC) has developed a 4 hour training module on understanding and accessing funding for school programs and services.