Follow Up to Medicare Coverage for Speech Generating Devices

Follow Up to Medicare Coverage for Speech Generating Devices

On Thursday, November 6th, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rescinded the language it issued earlier this year in its “Coverage Reminder” which, if fully implemented, would have restricted patient access to Speech-Generating Devices functionalities that Medicare determined went beyond “speech generation” including internet access.  Medicare also stated that it would begin a review of the 2001 National Coverage Determination (or NCD) as the mechanism for updating Medicare’s policies related to SGDs. As part of its announcement, the agency stated:

Since the current NCD took effect on January 1, 2001, the technology for devices that generate speech and the ways in which the devices are used by patients to meet their medical needs has changed significantly. As a result, CMS intends to internally generate a reconsideration of the benefit category NCD addressing Medicare coverage of augmentative and alternative communication devices (IOM 100-02 §50.1). Additional information about this matter will be made available in the near future.

To access the CDR Library: http://uscm.med.sc.edu/CDR/index.asp