Public Policy Agenda - 2021 - 7

Health Care
Priorities
Audiologists and speech-language pathologists provide medically necessary services to
maximize health and functional outcomes and to enhance quality of life. It is essential that
public and private payers comprehensively cover-and equitably reimburse-audiology and
speech-language pathology services regardless of service delivery model. ASHA's health care
priorities are as follows:
*	 Advocate for comprehensive coverage and *	 Support productivity and documentation
standards that prioritize patient access,
equitable reimbursement for audiology
clinical excellence, ethical practice, and
and speech-language pathology services,
high-quality service delivery.
including early intervention services.
*	 Advocate for the inclusion and appropriate
*	 Advocate for expanded coverage of
valuation of audiology and speechaudiology and speech-language pathology
language pathology services in alternative
services delivered by means of telepractice,
payment models, coverage policies, and
and support reimbursement parity between
other emerging health care delivery systems.
telepractice and in-person services.
*	 Advocate for public policies that support
or expand coverage of habilitation and
rehabilitation services and devices as
essential health benefits.

*	 Advocate for effective funding to support
the research and the assessment, treatment,
and management of speech, language,
cognitive, hearing, balance, voice, and
feeding/swallowing disorders.

patients receiving telehealth services indicated
overall high ratings ( " excellent " or " very good " responses)
for all patient-centered outcome metrics and value in future
telehealth visit

across telerehabilitation visits.2

ASHA 2021 Public Policy Agenda | 7
Public Policy Agenda - 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Public Policy Agenda - 2021
