Health Care Economics Committee

Liaisons with the Vice President for Government Affairs and Public Policy

Charge

Assist the Governmental Affairs and Public Policy (GAPP) Board and the GAPP cluster staff in determining the current economic issues and developing goals for ensuring equitable coverage and reimbursement for audiology and speech-language pathology services that can be incorporated into the Association's annual public policy agenda; focus on developing recommendations for coding and relative values of speech-language pathology and audiology procedures, for coverage of services by all payers, and to anticipate further socioeconomic needs of the professions and consumers.

Composition

6 audiologists and 6 speech-language pathologists. At least one member from each profession must be in private practice.

Members

Mark DeRuiter, Co-Chair
Stuart G. Trembath, Co-Chair
Deborah Ross Swain, Board Liaison
Shannon E. Butkus
Deborah Carlson
Leisha R. Eiten
Luis Riquelme
Renee Kinder
Wendy Leborgne (DeLeo)
Devin McCaslin
Sheila R. Pratt
Michael K. Sharp
Duane V. Trahan

Term

3 year terms with up to 3 terms

Commitments/Obligations

2 face-to face meetings at the National Office as well as a planned face-to-face meeting at the ASHA annual Convention on Committee Day. Monthly conference calls in the evening for approximately 1 hour. Other work and responsibilities may include development of educational resources and research and evaluation of coding and policy issues. Service as ASHA's representative to the American Medical Association's Relative Value Update Committee (RUC) or Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Editorial Panel is a requirement of 6 members of the HCEC. Those responsibilities include additional travel (3 meetings annually, at a minimum) and significant time in preparation for representing the professions before the AMA committees.