For more information or questions on legislative or advocacy issues, contact your OSLHA Director of Advocacy any time!

Maggie Kettler, AuD, FAAA

oslhaadvocacy@ohioslha.org 

To call or write your legislator, visit: www.legislature.ohio.gov

HB 152 (aka. Madeline’s Law) was recently amended into HB7, which is an Ohio House Bill that focuses on various aspects of maternal and infant health. It is very likely this bill will go to a House floor vote in the next few weeks.

A similar bill (HB152) has already passed the House and has been in the hands of the Senate for several months without any further attention/progress. In order for this coverage to be implemented, both the House & Senate must pass this initiative into law!

Therefore, we encourage OSLHA members to reach out to their Senators TODAY to request their urgent attention to HB152 before they break for the summer and campaign season. Please Consider this CALL TO ACTION!  We are passionate about this issue because Ohioans need this support!!

Learn More About This Bill & Contact Your Senator at: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/135/hb152

The Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council said it’s offering $216,000 in federal grant funding for projects to research and advocate for policies to support people with developmental disabilities. Among the projects the council is looking to support is an independent analysis of the effects seen in other states from eliminating 14(c) certificates, which are issued by the U.S. Department of Labor to enable an employer to pay sub-minimum wages to people
with disabilities. Reps. Dontavius Jarrells (D-Columbus) and Scott Lipps (R- Franklin) recently introduced legislation that would phase out the use of subminimum wage, HB427. A federal court in Ohio also recently upheld federal regulations that set a tougher standard for employers looking to use 14(c) certificates to pay subminimum wage.

Ensuring the Ohio State Fair welcomes Ohioans of all abilities remains a focus of our annual fair, Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement last year.

“Inclusivity lies at the heart of it all in Ohio,” he said. “The accessibility of our Ohio State Fair allows Ohioans with disabilities to have equal opportunities to participate so that we do not leave anyone behind.”

Starting in 2023, the event now includes free wheelchair/mobility device charging stations, technology to connect people who are blind or have low vision to an agent who can help with navigation, American Sign Language interpretation, a dedicated sensory-friendly morning, and universal changing tables.  It also continues to offer wheelchair accessible picnic tables, Accessible Play Area, Quite Room, Assisted Listening Devices and more…

Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities partnered with the State Fair to ensure changing stations are available in multiple locations throughout the fair. “Since fairgoers usually spend the entire day on the grounds, it’s important that charging stations are available to keep wheelchairs, scooters, and other mobility devices going strong,” OOD Director Kevin Miller said in a statement.

ASL will also be offered at multiple events and a sensory-friendly morning will be offered where Fairgoers will be able to ride the rides with no flashing lights or music. Check out the details and full fair offerings and plan to join us at the annual Ohio State Fair.

Parents who want to use a voucher for a child with autism will have an easier time. The state budget expanded the list of approved ways children can qualify for Ohio’s Autism Scholarship Program. Children can be identified by their school districts, those with Individual Education Plans that “include services related to autism” and students diagnosed as autistic by a physician or a psychologist.

“In short, any student formally diagnosed as autistic now qualifies for the Autism Scholarship,” according to Disability Rights Ohio. “This major change makes the scholarship accessible to many more families.”

We are thrilled to share one of OSHGAC’s largest successes this year, a lobbying collaboration OSLHA is happy to participate as a member of: Effective January 1, 2024, the Ohio Department of Medicaid has agreed to rate changes for our patients in need of speech and hearing services!  OSHGAC worked directly with the Ohio Department of Medicaid to help our members and the patients they serve.

There are many speech and audiology related codes with rate increases. We want to highlight a few of the changes that may impact your practice.

• 92507 SPEECH/HEARING THERAPY 57.23
• 92508 SPEECH/HEARING THERAPY 20.87
• V5256 HEARING AID, DIGITAL, MONAURAL, ITE ($763.88)
• V5257 HEARING AID, DIGITAL, MONAURAL, BTE ($763.88)
• V5260 HEARING AID, DIGITAL, BINAURAL, ITE ($1,527.75)
• V5261 HEARING AID, DIGITAL, BINAURAL, BTE ($1,527.75)

Another very important and significant change is that the hearing aid rate will be the same for all Ohioans, regardless of age.   Previously, adults hearing aid rates were reimbursed at 50% of children rates.  This change will allow for better care and access for all! Complete List of Impacted Codes

We appreciate the Ohio Department of Medicaid’s efforts and support.  We also recognize that there is more work to be done and look forward to partnering with them to increase rates for other codes.

The “Strong Foundations Act” is being promoted to address Ohio’s abysmal maternal and infant mortality rates. Rep. Andrea White (R-Kettering) said Tuesday. “It’s risky business to have a baby in our state. Ohio has some of the worst infant and maternal mortality rates in the entire nation,” White told the House Finance Committee during sponsor testimony on HB7 (White-Humphrey). The bill was reported out of the House Families and Aging Committee in June, and some provisions of the bill were included in the recent state budget proposal. The bill is being considered by the House Finance Committee because it includes a $37.5 million appropriation in FY24 and an $18.5 million appropriation in FY25 for various programs to improve the health of mothers and infants throughout the state.

Ohio’s 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline has added American Sign Language services for deaf and hard of hearing callers.

To connect directly to a trained 988 Lifeline counselor in ASL, callers who are Deaf, DeafBlind, DeafDisabled, Hard of Hearing, or Late-Deafened
can click the “ASL Now” button on 988lifeline.org and follow the prompts.

Direct dialing to 988 from a videophone will be available in the coming weeks, and in the meantime, ASL callers can call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) from their videophone to reach ASL services.

In a recent communication, CMS noted that corrections have been made to an unintentional edit that prevented same-day billing of 92611 and 74230.  We are pleased to report that with the reversal of the CCI edit, Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) and Radiologists will once again be appropriately reimbursed for each distinctly different portion of their professional collaboration during the videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS).  Billing adjustments will be retroactive to January 1, 2020, and the wording will be implemented as soon as technically possible in a future edit update!!

CMS further clarified that claims for same-day billing of 92611 and 74230 must include a modifier to note that the services are separate and distinct. This means that claims for VFSS should include 92611 first on the claim, as the “column 1” code, followed by 74230 with the modifier -59 (or subcategory modifiers) appended.  Additional information on the use of CCI-associated modifiers is available on ASHA’s website.