Medicare beneficiaries who need speech-generating devices (SGDs) have cause to celebrate. Speech-generating devices are highly customized electronic augmentative and alternative communication systems that are used to supplement or replace speech. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS) has so far kept SGDs under capped-rental requirements, an arrangement that adversely impacts patients who use them during extended hospital stays or in skilled nursing facilities.
The passage of the Steve Gleason Act of 2015 on July 15 means a Medicare beneficiary is allowed to purchase an SGD and transfer of ownership is immediate. The Act ensures “that Medicare beneficiaries who utilize these devices to communicate can retain their customized devices when requiring inpatient care,” according to a July 15 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) press release.