What is the Obamacare Effect on Speech Therapy?

What is the Obamacare Effect on Speech Therapy?

by Gordy Rogers, M.S. CCC-SLP Financial Resources

I must state upfront that I am primarily a speech and language clinician rather than a health care policy expert. This post is not intended to be exhaustive or comprehensive, but rather an overview of what you might expect from this significant policy change. What is the Obamacare Effect on Speech Therapy? The primary intention of ObamaCare is to provide health coverage for every American while introducing reforms that would try to control the recent dramatic rise in health care costs. Not all provisions of the law have taken effect yet; some still have yet to roll out. Nevertheless this is a noble and ambitious goal, one that will require a major rethink of how speech therapy, in particular, is delivered.
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Disability Benefits for Speech Disorders: How to Apply on Behalf of a Child

Disability Benefits for Speech Disorders: How to Apply on Behalf of a Child

by Deanna Powers Financial Resources

Guest Post! As the Community Outreach Manager of Social Security Disability Help, Deanna Powers knows her way around applying for disability benefits on behalf of a child with a speech disorder.

From trips to the doctor’s office to therapist bills, if you are the parent of a child with a speech disorder, you know the added costs your family incurs. Fortunately, there are financial resources available for families who qualify. The Social Security Administration (SSA) offers monthly disability benefits for speech disorders for children who have a qualifying disability.

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Obamacare: Speech Therapy under the Affordable Care Act

Obamacare: Speech Therapy under the Affordable Care Act

by Adrienne P. Financial Resources

With the last day to enroll in or change healthcare coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on Sunday, January 31, many parents may be wondering about coverage benefits for their children. It can be hard to know how to sort through coverage details in the ACA, also called Obamacare or simply ‘the health care law.’ At Speech Buddies, we often get questions about Obamacare speech therapy and insurance coverage, so let’s sift through elements of the ACA that will be relevant to you and your children if your family requires speech therapy services.
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Out-of-Network Speech Therapy Benefits

Out-of-Network Speech Therapy Benefits

by Gordy Rogers, M.S. CCC-SLP Financial Resources

Recently, I discussed the generally unfavorable state of affairs around health insurance for speech therapy services. Despite this, all is not lost. Not by any means! Many of my own clients are able to take advantage of out-of-network speech therapy benefits for health care reimbursement, which can provide a significant savings for families. In this same vein, a previous post of mine covered Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). Today’s post focuses on what parents need to know in order to access those precious out-of-network speech and language therapy benefits. As with anything insurance-related, initially it can be a bit complicated. The hope is that, armed with this information, you will be better able to get the benefits you actually pay for, and in as timely a manner as possible.

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Insurance Coverage for Speech Therapy

Insurance Coverage for Speech Therapy

by Gordy Rogers, M.S. CCC-SLP Financial Resources

I am occasionally asked whether I directly accept health insurance. The short answer is that I do not. This is a somewhat fraught issue for me in my practice, I do have to admit. After all, my family and I have health insurance and I fundamentally believe in increasing access to all who are in need of any service. However, the harsh reality is that currently, insurance coverage for speech therapy typically would deny coverage for any service that treats a disability that is “developmental” in nature. Often, insurance coverage for speech therapy requires medical necessity, or has resulted from a specific injury or illness, something that is increasingly difficult to establish and quite infrequently the reason for a speech or language challenge. Most speech pathologists, myself included, work with children whose challenges are indeed developmental in nature. So, even if I were to directly participate with the leading health insurance providers, most of the children I see wouldn’t even be able to use their insurance for what it is specifically I am treating. This blog post is dedicated to sharing more experiences with health insurance for speech therapy and helping you, the parent, find the best speech and language therapy option for your child.

Photo 2012-226 My New Teacher Desk by Denise Krebs

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How to pay for Speech Therapy? 3 Families, 3 Approaches

How to pay for Speech Therapy? 3 Families, 3 Approaches

by Gordy Rogers, M.S. CCC-SLP Financial Resources

Particularly since the Great Recession of 2008-2009, the public options available to parents to cover the costs of speech therapy have been gradually tightening. I have seen many children in my practice who previously would easily qualify for services, but now are turned away, making the question of “how to pay for speech therapy” even more challenging.

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What to Do If Your Family Has Been Denied Early Intervention Services

What to Do If Your Family Has Been Denied Early Intervention Services

by Gordy Rogers, M.S. CCC-SLP Language Development State Resources

You, as a parent, know that your young child could use a boost in his or her language development, but your local Early Intervention (EI) program has deemed your child not sufficiently delayed to warrant funded therapy services. So what do you do now that you’ve been denied Early Intervention Services? This is an agonizing question to have to face. Unfortunately, as a consequence of the 2008-2009 financial crisis, many states sharply cut back on available funds for EI. I thought this was a terrible decision. What better investment in society is there than in the very young? And the research is strong and clear: intervening early in a child’s development can have an outsized impact on their overall development.

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Finding a Brooklyn Speech Therapist

Finding a Brooklyn Speech Therapist

by Gordy Rogers, M.S. CCC-SLP Financial Resources Speech Therapist

I am proud to announce that our full-service speech therapy plan is available to parents in Brooklyn, New York, my hometown. We are good at technology: we’ve harnessed the best in medical device technology to really revolutionize the treatment of speech and articulation challenges with Speech Buddies Tools. But recently we have developed a unique means of matching parents in need of services with great local therapists and we’re launching in—fuhgeddaboudit—Brooklyn! The need for private speech services is widespread and covers a variety of speech and language challenges. This post is dedicated to helping you match your family’s unique needs with both the expertise of a local Speech Buddies therapist and your family’s budget. Whether your child is 2 years old and in need of a boost in language skills, or a middle-school student who could use some extra academic support, our plan is the perfect place to start. Below I will walk through several of the most common reasons you, a Brooklyn parent, might be searching for a great Brooklyn Speech Therapist.

Photo: Neighborhood Kids by Walter

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