U.S. Reps. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., and Neal Dunn, R-Fla., joined U.S. House members from both sides of the aisle in a letter asking for more information on the federal health benefits available to individuals who stutter to better understand gaps in coverage in a letter to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Department of Defense Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness Gil Cisneros, and U.S. Office of Personnel Management Director Kiran Ahuja.
“There has always been a difference between my life and my career. My personal experiences with stuttering led me to make sure three million Americans feel heard,” said NBA veteran Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. “I’m very appreciative of the bipartisan support behind this selfless effort.”
The letter is below.
Dear Secretary McDonough, Under Secretary Cisneros, Administrator Brooks-LaSure, and Director Ahuja:
We write to request information on the federal health benefits available to individuals who stutter. While progress has been made in recent years to lower barriers to accessing speech diagnoses and treatment resources, gaps in coverage within the benefits landscape persist. We request your help to better understand the current coverage for diagnosis and treatment for individuals who stutter under the following federal programs: Medicare, Medicaid, VA health care benefits – including CHAMPVA, TRICARE, and the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program.
Stuttering is a type of speech impairment, a broader term to refer to any communication disorder that affects an individual’s ability to produce clear and fluent speech. There are several types of speech impairments, including articulation disorders, phonological disorders, fluency disorders, and voice disorders. Stuttering is best described as a fluency disorder. Early intervention and treatment can help individuals with speech impairments to develop more effective communication skills and improve their quality of life.
To date, about 1 in 20 children and 1 in 100 adults in the United States stutter. Stuttering can have a significant impact on an individual’s ability to communicate effectively. Left untreated, stuttering can have devastating implications for a child’s social and emotional welfare, often leading to social isolation, low self-esteem, and academic difficulties. As this condition adversely affects a student’s performance in the classroom, it can also impact that student’s ability to graduate or pursue higher education. For adults, this can translate into diminished opportunity to pursue gainful employment or to advance in their career – with individuals who stutter often opting to pursue positions with less verbal communication regardless of their competency and despite lesser socioeconomic benefit.
Access to effective speech therapy with a skilled Speech Language Pathologist who understands stuttering and people who stutter is crucial to managing and treating stuttering. Through speech therapy, individuals learn how to identify the moment of stuttering and use specialized speech interventions to promote greater confidence, and more effective communication.
To help us better understand current coverage policy and support available to identify any existing barriers to care, we request information regarding federal coverage for the assessment, diagnosis, and follow-up speech therapy under the following programs: Medicare, Medicaid, CHAMPVA, TRICARE, and the FEHB program. Additionally, we request information on access to care and factors impacting access – including information regarding reimbursement, rates of diagnosis specific denials, and network adequacy regarding reimbursement, rates of diagnosis specific denials, and network adequacy.
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