Celebrate Medicare and Medicaid’s 60th Anniversary with Action
July 30, 2025
Today, July 30, 2025, Medicare and Medicaid celebrate their 60th anniversary! These pivotal programs supply health care to millions of Americans. ASHA members have been providers for both programs for decades and have consistently advocated for the professions and their patients.
H.R. 1, commonly known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, will cut millions of dollars in funding from these programs. In a recently released press release, Bernadette Mayfield-Clarke, ASHA’s 2025 president, said, “Both Medicare and Medicaid have provided Americans with vital support for decades, warranting a celebration of their anniversaries as well as continued support. Unfortunately, recent funding cuts stand to end that support—threatening the health and quality of life of people of all ages in communities across the country… Protecting these services is not just a professional issue—it’s a moral one.”
ASHA Advocacy is hard at work fighting to protect Medicare and Medicaid. We need your help to amplify the voices of ASHA members and to protect access to care for millions of Americans.
Take Action
ASHA has several Take Action campaigns related to Medicare and Medicaid. In just two minutes, you can send a letter to your elected officials and make a difference for your patients and your profession.
Make Telehealth Access Permanent for Medicare Beneficiaries
Urge your members of Congress to cosponsor H.R. 1614, bipartisan legislation that would make audiologists and speech-language pathologists permanent Medicare telehealth providers. Get the latest update about providing telehealth services to Medicare beneficiaries.
Tell Congress to Reverse Medicare Part B Payment Cuts to Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Services for 2025
Urge your members of Congress to pass the Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act of 2025 (H.R. 879), which would reverse Medicare Part B payment cuts and provide relief from rising medical inflation.
Tell Congress to Improve Medicare Beneficiary Access to Audiology Services
Urge your members of Congress to support the Medicare Audiology Access Improvement Act (H.R. 2757/S. 1996), which would give seniors more timely and robust access to audiology services. Read ASHA’s statement about why this bill is important and our response to false claims about its impact.
Urge Congress to Address Burdensome Prior Authorization in Medicare Advantage
Urge your members of Congress to support the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act (H.R. 3514/S. 1816), which would reduce administrative burden caused by excessive use of prior authorization and maximize the time audiologists and speech-language pathologists spend caring for their patients.
Share Your Medicaid Story
Share your story with ASHA Advocacy (or directly with your legislators) to help us show lawmakers how crucial the Medicaid program is—and how funding cuts and other changes could impact you or your patients.
Other Ways to Advocate
Connect with your state speech-language-hearing association to advocate for Medicaid legislation at the local level.
You can also get involved in ASHA’s Medicaid Committee. Just this year, the Medicaid Committee participated in a virtual fly-in on Capitol Hill, where we hosted 15 meetings with congressional staff discussing ways to protect this vital safety net program in the face of proposed (and now finalized) cuts. Members shared their stories of serving Medicaid patients across a variety of settings, including children's hospitals, outpatient clinics, and others.
The committee is most often comprised of ASHA members who are actively billing the Medicaid program or involved in state level program administration. Join the ASHA volunteer committee pool to get started.
