Insurers reject mainstream devices for speech assistance
September 15th, 2009From the New York Times:
People with speech disabilities question why Medicare and private insurers are declining to cover mainstream devices like iPhones and netbook PCs that can help them communicate.
Insurers say coverage is restricted to medical devices, not gadgets that can also be used for nonmedical purposes like playing video games or browsing the Internet. Consequently, they are limiting coverage to dedicated, proprietary devices that cost 10 to 20 times more and can do far less.
Kara Lynn uses a $300 Apple iPhone 3G running $150 text-to-speech software, which serves her better than the $8,000 Medicare-approved computer that she used previously.
For Ms. Lynn, the iPhone, with the special software, is cheaper, more effective and essential. “Technology has become as important to me as air, food, water,” she wrote.
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September 17th, 2009 at 11:29 am
But at this price, is it worth having it covered by insurance ?
September 15th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
After reading the story regarding insurance companies rejecting devices that are lower in cost, less cumbersome and more usable than the ones they approve, can anyone deny we need health care reform? I don’t care to which side of the aisle you lean, how can insurance companies making this kind of call be right?
September 15th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Thanks, Patricia. In the future, insurance companies will have a harder time justifying the costs of “dedicated” speech machines, especially if anyone in the world can use a $300 iPhone with speech capabilities that fits in their back pocket. And in many cases, an iPhone or BlackBerry may be all a person who cannot communicate really wants or needs; they shouldn’t be punished just because the device is so devastatingly cool.
September 15th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
What is the American Speech Language Hearing Association position on this?