2:01am August 23, 2014

➸ Don’t Let Medicare Take Away Severely Disabled People’s Ability to Communicate! || Center for Medicare Advocacy

Recent changes to Medicare are drastically reducing the ability of the most vulnerable people with disabilities to communicate.

As of April 1, 2014, Medicare began denying payment for many of the medically necessary speech generating devices used by people with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), Cerebral Palsy, Spinal Cord Injuries, and other impairments, when they enter a health care facility, such as a skilled nursing home or hospice. Taking these highly specialized devices away leaves them no way to communicate at a vulnerable and terrifying time.

On September 1, 2014, many severely disabled individuals will have all contact with the outside world cut off. For many years, Medicare allowed individuals using Medicare-provided speech generating devices to use their own funds to “upgrade” the devices. This allowed them to communicate beyond the confines of their room through email, internet, and text messages. After September, Medicare will no longer pay for any device that has the potential to be upgraded to allow communication outside the room

Currently, Medicare routinely denies coverage of the critical eye-gaze technology necessary by some people to operate these speech devices, even when its medical necessity is well documented.  They have no way to communicate as a result. After years of waiting for an appeal to Medicare, the eye-gaze coverage is routinely allowed, but individuals should not be forced to wait years without a voice. 

We need your “voice!” […]

OMG THIS IS COMPLETELY FUCKING HORRIBLE.  SOMEONE DO SOMETHING.  NO SERIOUSLY AS AN AAC USER TO HAVE YOUR VOICE TAKEN AWAY IS LIKE HAVING YOUR THROAT RIPPED OUT.

182 notes