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by Marat Moore
Massachusetts clinicians have gained third-party billing for independent providers from the state’s Blue Cross Blue Shield health plan. More than 80 association leaders from 39 states recently celebrated this victory and others-—and assessed their challenges—in Providence, RI, at the annual ASHA/Council of State Association Presidents (CSAP) conference. Following its usual format, the gathering featured two back-to-back meetings—an ASHA state policy workshop May 16–17 and the CSAP meeting May 17–18.
Session topics at the state policy workshop included funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act—how to access funds through the state—the latest developments in licensure laws, the potential impact of CCC changes on state practice acts, and the implementation of Rhode Island’s early hearing detection and intervention law.
State Sen. Hanna Gallo of Rhode Island—who also works in the schools as a speech-language pathologist—addressed the group on how to influence the legislative process. (For more on Gallo, see sidebar at right.) She urged participants to learn more about how bills are developed and debated at the state level, and to make contact with decision-makers.
"You need to be involved with state legislators. They need to know who you are, what your positions are on issues, and what you expect from them," she said. "And on the state association level, when you have bills, make sure you hire a good lobbyist and put enough money in your PAC."
The CSAP conference focused on the theme, "Tools for Transforming Tomorrow…Together We Learn." In her opening address, ASHA President Nancy Creaghead discussed the impact of trends in service delivery on state associations.
Michael McKinley, a professional speaker and past president of a national speakers’ association, explored successful ways to handle change in a second keynote address.
In sessions, state association leaders focused on assessing their association budgets, hiring or firing a lobbying firm, and the relationship between volunteer and hired leadership. Participants also discussed how to run a successful convention, conduct smooth meetings, and fully utilize ASHA resources.
"People came with tremendous excitement," said CSAP President Nancy McKinley, noting that participants were interested in developing leadership and technology skills, and in connecting in new ways with audiologists.
"Our associations are stronger when the professions work closely together," she added.
Celebrating Success
Every year, CSAP offers an open session—called "Bring, Brag and Moan"—that invites state leaders to report on the year’s successes and challenges. Some of the "brags" included advances in tuition assistance for students, licensure, accessibility legislation, hearing aid regulations, and caseload reduction.
Progress also is occurring in expanding services and third-party billing to insurance carriers. In many cases, services may be covered, but the providers who offer them may be severely restricted.
Norraine Wylonis, president of the Massachusetts Speech-Language-Hearing Association (MSHA), told her colleagues about a victory in gaining third-party billing for independent providers from the state’s Blue Cross Blue Shield health plan.
For years in Massachusetts, only hospital or physician office-based SLPs or audiologists could provide covered services. Through MSHA, a bill was repeatedly introduced requiring private health plans to allow licensed practitioners to become providers if their license included the service of the benefit.
After years of vigorous lobbying—including a year when the governor vetoed the bill—MSHA was successful. Now a licensed and ASHA-certified SLP or audiologist can provide a covered service as a private practitioner.
"This is a major victory, because Blue Cross Blue Shield is such a big player. People needing services can now go to any provider in the state," Wylonis said, adding that the insurers cannot restrict the length of the benefit if the service is considered a medical necessity.
For more information on state associations, visit www.asha.org and click on "About ASHA" and "Legislation & Advocacy" to access state contact information. For information on CSAP, visit www.csap.org .
Making a Difference in the Schools—
and the State Senate
by Marat Moore
Hanna Gallo has never been one to sit back and complain. As a young mother, she became a proactive parent in the public schools, and she also helped fight a major corporation that was polluting the area.
In those years, Gallo most fully expressed her values and commitment in her private life. But that changed five years ago, when she stepped into the public arena to take on both a professional and political role.
"When my youngest child entered kindergarten, I decided to get a master’s in speech-language pathology," she says. Her interest in communication disorders came from one of her daughters’ hearing problems and her own desire to "work on" her unique Rhode Island accent.
"You may not have noticed, but we drop our r’s," she says with a laugh. "So, because of my daughter’s audiology needs and my accent, I decided that’s what I wanted to do." Gallo became an SLP at Peace Dale Elementary School in South Kingston, RI, where she still works.
Just a year later, a state senator from her district decided to run for mayor of Cranston. Gallo campaigned for the empty Senate seat and won.
Serving in the Senate put her time management skills to the test. Although it’s considered part-time, Gallo says, "it’s a full-time job."
"We have to meet Tuesday through Thursday from 4 p.m. until whenever we finish the work. Depending on what committees and subcommittees you’re on, it can take most days and nights."
Of the four senators in her district, she is the only one who also holds down a regular job. She works three days a week in the schools and three in the Senate. On Wednesdays, when she juggles both, her principal has allowed her to work flexible hours.
Gallo’s dual service as a clinician and as a political leader has brought tangible benefits both to the children she serves and to her constituents and colleagues in the Senate. She sits on the state Board of Regents, which oversees all elementary and secondary schools in Rhode Island—and when SLPs began to lobby for a caseload cap, her political instincts paid off.
"As a legislator, I knew we had to find the funding or the bill would go nowhere," she says. The search for funding led to hearings in which Gallo—as a member of the Board of Regents—was able to correct misperceptions and educate her colleagues about speech-language pathology services in the schools.
Recently, Gallo spoke to state association leaders gathered at ASHA’s state policy workshop in Providence, RI, about how to influence state legislation.
Gallo faces a tough re-election battle this year because her district has been redrawn and her opponent is a millionaire.
"Instead of 20,000 constituents, I have close to 30,000," she says. "I need to go door to door and convince people to vote for me. People don’t want to donate to PACs, and many don’t vote. But in this tiny state, one vote could decide a race."
But the challenges are worth it, she says, recalling the day she went to five schools during "Reading Week."
"At several schools, young girls came up to me and said, ‘I didn’t know a woman could be a senator.’ They’re growing up with a limited sense of possibility.
"I was glad to be able to say, ‘Oh yes, they can. Women can be anything they want to be.’"
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