Committee News – June 2026Continuing Education (CE)
Higher EducationThe Higher Education Committee thanks all the clinical partners who were able to attend the annual Clinical Educator Workshop this year. Your support of our students is appreciated. LiteracyKaren and Laura have considered seeking other professionals to speak on specific literacy-based strategies that can easily be incorporated into speech-language therapy; there is always the question of paying speakers. Topics: How to write a GIST statement; Sentence Combining and Syntax; the importance of syntax in reading. We are considering having these speakers present as part of Literacy/SAC initiative and during scheduled Literacy Committee meetings. Still in brain-storming phase. The Committee is actively working on preparing a final product of the “Parent Project” to present to the board. The Committee met April 23 and June 03 and have scheduled a meeting for June 30th. MembershipCCC Project – 30 bags have been created for distribution with NJ Hearing Aid Project. Leftover supplies (ordered in bulk) will be used to create smaller bags. Discord Channel for Students and New Professionals – looking for ways to increase members and possible exploration of another platform to use with or instead of Discord. Mentorship Program and Student Involvement – exploring ways to get students to feel more supported and increase involvement Multicultural (MC)The Multicultural Committee (MC) has ongoing student symposium presentations at several universities this spring to educate future audiology and speech-language pathology students about cultural humility, identifying and addressing personal and systemic biases, and understanding how cultural factors may affect service delivery. MC members from Saint Elizabeth University recorded a podcast discussing topics such as definitions of bilingualism, multilingual assessment, and ways to promote bilingual services. This recording is available for viewing on YouTube. https://youtu.be/YgR4lkqh4So?si=4lIhQ5iz2l9g7jY1 MC launched a Professional Learning Group meeting on Monday, March 30th. It focuses on exchanging resources and having conversations about evaluating and treating multilingual and diverse groups. Next meeting is tentatively scheduled for September 28, 2026. SAC
SAC continues to advocate for protections at the federal and state level for special education provisions of IDEA. SEALSThe ASHA SEALS (State Education Affairs Leadership Summit) June meeting was held on 6/8/26. The ASHA's State Affairs Team provided updates on various legislative and regulatory issues affecting speech-language pathologists and audiologists across different regions. The ASHA summary is as follows: ● Interstate Compact: 37 jurisdictions adopted it, but only four states (Louisiana, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia) are fully operational for issuing practice privileges. StAMPState Advocates for Medicare Policy (StAMP) On 5/5/26 meeting, Caroline Bergner, Director, Health Care Policy, Medicaid at ASHA presented information from the State Advocates for Reimbursement (STARs) Medicaid Updates to the StAMP Members. She provided an overview on how Medicaid eligible participants: low-income children, adults, pregnant women, and middle-class families with children with disabilities will be impacted by $1 Trillion cut from Medicaid programs over the next 10 years due to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The cuts to provider rates and service coverage will trickle down to school-based Medicaid. Medicaid Fraud, Waste, and Abuse: Centers of Medicare and Medicaid will withhold federal matching funds when a state fails to comply with basic stewardship obligations. There are increasing audits for ASHA members to endure: billing for CF services, unbundling of services, and billing for unallowable codes. SLPs may have misunderstandings about how Medicaid managed care works and varies from state to state. ASHA has sent over 30,000 messages from ASHA Advocates to Congress to protect Medicaid and participated with coalition partners such as the Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities to explain why reducing Medicaid funding will harm the most vulnerable. Both Caroline Bergner and Sarah Warren, Director Health Care Policy, Medicare helped to reconnect Tim Boyd, Director of State Health Care and Audiology Affairs, ASHA with NJSHA regarding the issues with speech pathologists completing the Fiberoptic Evaluation of Swallowing in the state of NJ without an MD on the premises. Tim Boyd met with a subcommittee from NJSHA on 5/18/26. He is gathering information regarding how other states were able to gain consent when they had similar hurdles and will be presenting the information back to NJSHA. Supervision of Assistants, Graduate Students, and Clinical Fellows: Billing and Payment Compliance June 25, 2026, 7–8:30 p.m. ET Supervision compliance requirements vary from payer to payer as well as for each type of supervisee. Participants in this webinar will learn the compliance framework audiologists and SLPs should use to ensure they are billing in a risk-avoidant way for supervisees such as assistants, clinical fellows, and students. Participants may earn 1.5 PDHs for attending the live event. https://asha.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_KLW1w-nQS0uw7uWSuAKI2A Medicare: Maintaining Compliance and Shaping Its Future July 1, 2026, 6:30–7:30 p.m. ET This webinar will provide an overview of how Medicare works and the main challenges Medicare-enrolled providers face. Presenters will highlight ASHA's ongoing legislative initiatives to improve the payment system, so it meets the needs of audiologists, SLPs, and their patients. Participants may earn 1 PDH for attending the live event. https://asha.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BvgVKf3hSj22QCi3N1yxHQ All webinars will be recorded and made available on ASHA Stream within two weeks of the live event. WebsiteAccessibility & Compliance Past Committee NewsApril 2026
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