6 Ways to Reduce your Costs for Speech Therapy
6 Ways to Reduce Costs of Speech Therapy
Tax week has arrived! Alas, owing taxes are top of mind for most of us! In that spirit, we thought we’d share a few ideas about how to SAVE money on Speech Therapy. The cost of speech therapy is a hefty burden for many families. While there are often free speech therapy services provided in public school settings, children under the age of five or children in remote areas of the country are forced to seek private speech therapy or look for alternate ways to afford this care. Here are a few avenues to turn to that may help you save money on your speech therapy services.
6 Ways to Reduce your Costs for Speech Therapy
Insurance: What exactly does your insurance cover? You may qualify for coverage or partial coverage by doing a little digging. You will want to ask your insurance provider if both evaluation AND treatments are covered. If you are looking through your policy, look for key words such as speech language pathology, speech therapy, or rehabilitation services. Those are an indication of what type of speech therapy is covered under your plan. If you are unsure, ASHA offers helpful advice on how to choose a healthcare plan that includes these services.
Medicaid: Medicaid is jointly funded by federal and state governments to assist states in providing medical care, such as speech therapy, to those who are categorized as medically needy. Speech pathology is recognized and covered under the Medicaid program. While the federal government establishes the guidelines, each state is responsible for administering the speech therapy and regulating the type, duration, and scope of services that are covered. To learn more about Medicaid and how it could be an option for you, go to American Speech-Language-Hearing Association website.
State Early Start Programs: Early Start provides assessment and early intervention services for children and their families. Infants and toddlers qualify for programs like California’s Early Start or Massachusett’s Early Intervention programs if they have developmental delays or medical conditions that put them at risk for delay.
University Clinics: Often, Colleges or University’s in your town have on-site clinics that provide speech therapy assessment and intervention services at a reduced cost. The speech therapy services are run by students in the Graduate Speech Language Pathologist program, under direct supervision of a licensed SLP. These are an excellent resource for screenings, diagnostic evaluations, and therapeutic services for infants, toddlers, children, adolescents, and adults with various disorders of speech, language, and hearing.
Easter Seals: Easter Seals is a trusted National organization that helps provide education, outreach, and advocacy to individuals living with disabilities. They help children with rehabilitation services so that they can live better lives. The organization also helps families with support programs. Check out an Easter Seals organization in your hometown.
Speech Buddies: Cutting down on costs couldn’t be easier using Speech Buddies. Speech Buddies set of tools are designed to teach correct tongue placement positioning for the five most difficult sounds. Each set of tools have been proven to work 2-4 times faster than traditional speech therapy on its own. Visit our Speech Education Center for more information on speech challenges and a simple questionnaire to understand your options.
