ASHA Leader Online

November 24, 2009

Health Reform Bills Would Benefit Children
The health care reform bills define rehabilitative and habilitative services as essential and would require coverage of hearing services, equipment, and supplies for children under 21.

Medicare Quality Reporting Available: Audiology and Speech-language Pathology Measures Added
In 2010, private-practice audiologists and speech-language pathologists will be able to participate in the Medicare Physician Quality Reporting Initiative program.

New York City Schools Cancel Hearing Screenings: ASHA Protests in Letter to Mayor Bloomberg
ASHA is calling on New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to restore public school hearing screenings for kindergarten and first-grade children.

New Jersey Insurers Will Cover Autism Treatment
Beginning in 2010, Insurance companies in New Jersey will be required to cover screening, evaluation, and treatment for individuals diagnosed with autism and other developmental disabilities.

Lost and Found After 40 Years: An SLP's Determination Helps a Man with Aphasia Find His Family
When state police found a man walking along a Montana interstate, they took him to a nursing home where SLP Jonalyn Brown worked with him to regain cognitive function after a hematoma and helped him find his home.

Auditory Event-Related Potentials in Younger and Older Listeners
The P300 auditory event-related potentials may provide valuable insights into differences in higher-order auditory processing between younger and older listeners.

Internet: Sign Language on the Internet
Sign language resources are abundant—and free—on the Internet and can have a variety of uses.

Audiology in Brief: November 24, 2009

Bottom Line: Improving Health Plan Payment Rates
Clinicians can employ specific strategies to negotiate the best possible rates when contracting with health care plans.

The Turn of a Phrase: "Habilitative/Rehabilitative Services" Is Heart of Health Reform
Audiology and speech-language pathology services need to be embedded in the phrase "habilitative/rehabilitative services" in any health care reform bill that passes.

First Person on the Last Page: Completing a Circle of Hope
A clinician and clinical supervisor reunite after 27 years in what turns out to be a fortuitous meeting.

Readers Respond

Team Management of Voice Disorders in Singers
Singers are vocal athletes that require special attention and treatment consideration when voice difficulty develops because they must maintain higher-than-normal levels of phonatory agility, strength, and stamina.

Diagnosis of (Central) Auditory Processing Disorder in Traumatic Brain Injury
Early identification of (central) auditory processing disorder in patients with head injury is crucial to improving central auditory processing as well as overall auditory function so patients can benefit from interventions.


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