🚨 Data Collection Closed and CMS Comments are now completed, but the work continues.  Read the Update
FOR SLPs & SLPAs
The SPEAK Project brings our profession together in a powerful way. We need your help. We need SLPs, SLPAs, and business owners involved in our mission to fight for fair reimbursement for all SLPs. Here are ways you can get involved today! The CMS comment period is over, but the work continues.
Our Profession. Our Data. Our Voice.
Our CMS Comment
The SPEAK Project was created in response to proposed changes to Medicare reimbursement for speech-language pathology services. After collecting nationwide practice data through Richey May and working with our legal, regulatory, and reimbursement experts at K&L Gates, we submitted a formal comment to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) during the public comment period. This Comment serves as the foundation for the white paper we will use in our congressional advocacy efforts.
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Why did Fix SLP submit the Comment?
The SPEAK Project is an extension of the work that began during the American Medical Association (AMA) process, where Fix SLP became the known entity representing this advocacy work. During strategy discussions with our legal and lobbying team, we were advised that the Comment should discuss and identify the SPEAK Project but be formally submitted by Fix SLP, as the established organization already known to CMS and other stakeholders.
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Read the Full Comment
We believe the SLP community should be able to see exactly what was submitted to CMS and how the information contributed through the SPEAK Project was used.
THE SPEAK PROJECT
We are organizing the national effort by:
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Collecting data from speech therapy practices
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Gathering experiences from SLPs, SLPAs, patients, and families
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Identifying professional and congressional connections
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Educating and mobilizing the speech-language pathology community
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Funding the experts and resources required to advance this work
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Ensuring that both data and lived experience support the profession’s concerns
INDEPENDENT CPA ANALYSIS
Our CPA team at Richey Mae is analyzing the financial data submitted by participating practices to:
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Determine the actual cost of providing speech-language pathology services
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Identify workforce, operating-cost, and access trends
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Aggregate the findings while protecting individual practice information
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Develop credible financial evidence that can be presented to policymakers
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Support future federal and state reimbursement advocacy
The goal is to replace assumptions about the cost of care with defensible, profession-specific data. Read about our lead CPA on the Team Members page.
Our federal advocacy team, K&L Gates, is helping turn that evidence into a focused strategy by:
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Identifying the policymakers and agency officials with the greatest influence
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Advising the SPEAK Project on the most effective pathway forward
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Developing messaging for Congress, CMS, HHS, and other decision-makers
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Helping secure and prepare for high-level meetings
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Identifying legislative, regulatory, and administrative opportunities
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Positioning this work for both immediate action and long-term reimbursement reform
FEDERAL ADVOCACY AND STRATEGY
The data establishes the evidence. The advocacy strategy puts that evidence in front of the people who can act on it. The SPEAK Project connects the two and brings the profession together behind them.
ONE COORDINATED EFFORT
How the SPEAK Project Is Turning Data Into a National Strategy
The Work Behind the Mission
The SPEAK Project brings together the profession’s real-world experience, independent financial analysis, and a coordinated advocacy strategy. Each partner has a distinct role in moving this work forward.
Share a Connection
or Insight
We'd love to hear from you.
Do you have a personal or professional connection to a member of Congress, congressional staff member, federal policymaker, or government leader? Or do you know something that could help us identify a potential champion for speech-language pathology?​
WE WANT TO HEAR ABOUT:
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Personal or professional connections to policymakers or their staff
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Legislators who have supported speech-language pathology, disability services, healthcare access, or related issues
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Policymakers with a personal or family connection to an SLP, SLPA, patient, or the disability community
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SLPs, SLPAs, practice owners, patients, or families who have previously worked with a congressional office
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Any other information that could help us reach the right person