Vitter Announces Encouraging Step Forward on Team Gleason Efforts

Press Release

U.S. Senator David Vitter (R-La.) today announced that the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is updating its Medicare coverage policy on speech-generating devices (SGDs), which addresses some of the issues mentioned in a bipartisan, bicameral letter sent last fall. The new CMS policy would finally allow patients to "unlock" devices and use communication tools like email and text message. Similar equipment is used by Steve Gleason, former professional football player with the New Orleans Saints. Vitter recently passed the Steve Gleason Act through the Senate. It awaits a vote in the House of Representatives.

"CMS has finally acknowledged that its policy is outdated. And while this is an encouraging step forward, patients may still lose necessary devices if they are admitted to a facility," Vitter said. "Frankly, this policy announcement won't fix the problem unless we make the reforms in the Steve Gleason Act. We've passed this bipartisan legislation through the Senate -- now we need to get a vote in the House of Representatives."

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