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Updated 06/28/06
(previously posted 05/18/06)
Legislative Victories Final: HB 1112 and CPT 92507
GSHA
members can now lift a champagne glass and toast our grass roots
efforts. You have seen several special alerts via the internet
asking for calls to action. Even though our legislative items
passed unanimously during the General Assembly, we had to rally to
prevent a possible veto on each of them. Governor Perdue has signed the
budget and the increase to CPT 92507 was included. According to
The Department of Community Health (DCH), the 92507 rate will increase
to $62.53 as of January 1, 2007. DCH reported the reason for the late
effective date in the fiscal year was due to not enough money allocated
in the 2007 budget. This will help more
children with communication disorders get help from an SLP. HB 1112 was
formally signed by the Governor on May 5, 2006.
This
process began in June of 2005 as members of GSHA's
Executive Council started drafting necessary changes to the licensure
law to accommodate the Audiology doctorate
degree. Meetings with Georgia Academy of
Audiology (GAA) followed. We hired our new lobbyists, Stan Jones
and Helen Sloat, and started planning our mission to get funds back for
CPT 92507. Stan and Helen learned our professions very quickly and
helped deliver victories. Countless meetings with legislators, trips to
the Capitol, phone calls, emails, and personal pleas for help all
resulted in two big victories. Donna Davidson, LaRae Brown, and
Jennifer McCullough all deserve special recognition for the sacrifice
they made to attend meetings, create "talking points," and meet with
legislators.
Members of GSHA, GAA, and many of our consumers deserve to celebrate
nearly a year of effort to bring these items to fruition. This learning
experience has been a roller coaster for many of us. GSHA can take this
experience with grass roots advocacy into the future.
4/18/06
UPDATE ON 92507 - The increase in the billing code we worked so hard to
get into the budget is at risk of veto by the Governor
The
Department of Community Health and the Office of Planning and Business
raised concerns over the 92507 line item in the 2007 Budget.
DCH
staff stated that:
1.
$900,000 was not enough money. Approximately $8.5 million
was needed
2.
It is a HIPAA violation to only increase the RBRVS for one
code
3.
They wanted providers to negotiate rates with the
CMO’s.
GSHA representatives will be meeting with OPB at the end of this week to
discuss these issues. However, they need GSHA members to call, fax, or
email the Governor’s Office and ask the Governor not to line veto the
budget for the Speech Code 92507 and enclose a position paper on these
issues. The position paper can be downloaded by clicking on Position
Paper on Speech Code 92507 in the upper right corner of this page.
It
is also important to contact Representative Brown, Senator
Goggans, Senator Jack Hill, and
Representative Ben Harbin. They supported our increase through the
legislative process. You can access a list of representatives by
visiting
www.legis.state.ga.us.
Please act today to preserve the rate increase so that more children
with communication disorders can be served!
01/06/05
Check out this article on CNN.com
- Wanted: Speech-language pathologists,
Schools struggle to meet needs of students
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