ASHA Advocate: September 19, 2025

Authority for audiologists and SLPs to provide telehealth services to Medicare beneficiaries is set to expire on September 30. A recently introduced government funding bill would extend this authority until November 21, 2025. While ASHA is happy the funding bill includes a temporary extension, our ultimate goal is for Congress to make telehealth authority permanent. Until then, we need the longest possible extension. To that end, ASHA supports the following legislation:

• The Telehealth Modernization Act (H.R. 5081), which would extend this authority for two years.
• H.R. 1614, which would make this authority permanent.

Now is the time to act! Urge Congress to prevent the September 30 Medicare telehealth cliff.

Take action to make telehealth access permanent for Medicare beneficiaries!

ASHA Advocacy joined forces with ASHA’s Schools Services team and five school-based SLPs to meet with legislators on Capitol Hill. Together, they highlighted critical issues facing school professionals, including fully funding IDEA, preserving the Department of Education, ensuring access to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, and more. Participating advocates included:

• Samantha Dudding of Washington, DC and Virginia
• Melissa Scopio of Delaware
• Karen Miranda of Maryland
• Mary Therese Sabatino of Pennsylvania
• Emily Bromer of Virginia.

ASHA has endorsed the Bipartisan Premium Tax Credit Extension Act (H.R. 5145), which would continue enhanced premium subsidies established though the Affordable Care Act. Without congressional action, these credits are set to expire at the end of 2025. These subsidies help make monthly health insurance premiums more affordable, especially for individuals on tight budgets. ASHA emphasized the importance of affordable care in a letter of support [PDF] to the bill’s sponsors.

• ASHA President Bernadette Mayfield-Clarke was quoted in Congressman Joe Neguse’s (D-CO) press release on legislation requiring private insurers to cover osseointegrated hearing devices and related services provided by audiologists.
• Urged the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions to preserve federal funding for education programs that support access to educational audiologists and school-based SLPs.
• Opposed funding cuts to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.
• Raised concerns to leaders of the House Committee on Education & Workforce [PDF] about the Accreditation Choice and Innovation Act (H.R. 4054) and its potential impact on students studying communication sciences and disorders (CSD) to become audiologists and SLPs.
• Spoke with congressional and Department of Education staff about the importance of school-based audiology and speech-language pathology services during the Committee for Education Funding’s 2025 Gala.
• Submitted questions for the record for the Senate Finance Committee hearing with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on newborn hearing screening programs.
• Shared ASHA’s positions on national defense authorization bills with House and Senate Armed Services Committee leaders.
• Submitted comments on Medicare outpatient payment policies under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule [PDF] and the hospital outpatient prospective payment system [PDF].
• Submitted a letter to Kaiser Permanente of California [PDF] expressing concerns regarding access to care for speech-language pathology services.
• Submitted a letter to the South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services [PDF] regarding coding for augmentative and alternative communication related services.
• Presented a federal legislative advocacy overview to CSD students at the University of Connecticut.
• Presented an overview of the implications of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to the Council of Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CAPCSD).
• Partnered with the Tennessee Association of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists on strategic planning.
• Provided draft legislative language on speech-language pathology assistants to the South Carolina Speech-Language-Hearing Association.