Fix SLP: Advocacy & Accountability in Speech-Language Pathology

Telehealth coverage for SLPs under Medicare expired on October 1, 2025. In this episode, Dr. Jeanette Benigas, SLP, and Katie Brown, SLP, explain what this means for the provision of Telehealth services for traditional Medicare Part B beneficiaries, the nuances for Part A beneficiaries, and the allowance of private pay. They also unpack the government shutdown’s impact on claims processing, what remains unchanged for Medicaid and Medicare Advantage plans, and why employers shouldn’t issue blanket telehealth bans without checking payer rules. Get clear, practical guidance plus the free Telehealth Toolkit to support your patients and advocate for continued access.Find all of the advocacy tools you need here to participate in the telehealth call to action, or check out Katie's SLPs Blueprint to Medicare Success and get $100 off with the code FixSLP.If you missed it, catch Katie and Jeanette’s earlier conversation on Medicare telehealth in Episode 96. It sets the stage for what’s happening now.Stop paying to track ASHA-approved CEUs. Save your money and set up for a FREE CEU/PDH tracker with Speech Therapy PD. While you are there, get $10 off a professional subscription with the code FixSLP10!🚧 Want to earn some PDHs or CEUs with a discount? Find our most up-to-date promo codes and discounts here.🚧 We want to collaborate with YOU. If you would like to lead or join your state team, please email your name and state to [email protected].🚧 Become a sustaining partner to support our work.🚧 Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.🚧 Find all our information at fixslp.com, and sign up for our email list to be alerted to new episodes and content.🚧 Email us at [email protected].🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line! ★ Support this podcast ★

Michigan SLPs just scored a unanimous 15–0 win in the Michigan House Health Policy Committee. House Bill 4484 is officially moving forward, clarifying that the state license, not a private certificate, is the credential for reimbursement. In this bonus episode, we detail what’s next in the Michigan legislative process, why this matters for Medicaid states, and how SLPs can replicate the win across the country. Plus: the SLP Compact update and celebrating two years of Fix SLP!Thank you to our sponsor, ⭐️ Befitting You Medical Supply, ⭐️ offering AAC devices with hands-on assessments, education, and support for patients and families. Check them out!🚧 Want to earn some PDHs or CEUs with a discount? Find our most up-to-date promo codes and discounts here.🚧 We want to collaborate with YOU. If you would like to lead or join your state team, please email your name and state to [email protected].🚧 Become a sustaining partner to support our work.🚧 Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.🚧 Find all our information at fixslp.com, and sign up for our email list to be alerted to new episodes and content.🚧 Email us at [email protected].🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line! ★ Support this podcast ★

SLP fear is real, but facts are louder. In this Fix SLP Podcast episode, Dr. Jeanette Benigas, SLP, and Preston Lewis, MS/SLP, unpack the top fears heard daily: Praxis retakes, reinstating the ASHA CCC, supervision requirements, getting overlooked by misinformed employers, whether CCC status affects international portability via the Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) with the UK, Canada, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, and how employer education, not court battles, drives SLP autonomy and better jobs.This episode shows how to turn fear into facts: evaluating your local job market, approaching HR about removing CCC requirements, clarifying supervision rules, and proving that patient outcomes, not extra letters, define true competence in the field.Thank you to our sponsor, ⭐️ Informed Jobs, ⭐️ connecting SLPs with meaningful job opportunities and career resources to keep you informed and empowered. Explore more at informedslp.com. Just click the menu, then select "Jobs"!🦺 Employer Education resources🦺 Episode #89: ASHA CCC Reinstatement - Facts, Fear, and What You Actually Need🦺 Episode #82: How ASHA Built a Monopoly in Speech-Language Pathology, and Why We Filed a Federal Complaint🚧 Want to earn some PDHs or CEUs with a discount? Find our most up-to-date promo codes and discounts here.🚧 We want to collaborate with YOU. If you would like to lead or join your state team, please email your name and state to [email protected].🚧 Become a sustaining partner to support our work.🚧 Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.🚧 Find all our information at fixslp.com, and sign up for our email list to be alerted to new episodes and content.🚧 Email us at [email protected].🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line! ★ Support this podcast ★

Renewal season is here, and the confusion is real: what’s the difference between ASHA membership and the CCC, and what do SLPs actually need to practice? In this episode, we discuss the legal authority of your state license, why the CCC is sold as a product, what “membership perks” really mean, and when keeping or dropping the CCC matters for supervision, Medicaid billing, or employer policies. Clear, actionable, and timely. This is your guide to making the right renewal decision.Thank you to our sponsor, ⭐️ SLP Elevate by Speech Time Fun ⭐️, offering engaging materials for grades 4–12, whether you work virtually or in person. Learn more at slpelevate.com!If you missed it a year ago, listen to Zane Rankin's story as the FIRST SLP in Arkansas credentialed for billing without the CCC after ASHA unceremoniously stripped it away following his unplanned medical retirement.🚧 Want to earn some PDHs or CEUs with a discount? Find our most up-to-date promo codes and discounts here.🚧 We want to collaborate with YOU. If you would like to lead or join your state team, please email your name and state to [email protected].🚧 Become a sustaining partner to support our work.🚧 Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.🚧 Find all our information at fixslp.com, and sign up for our email list to be alerted to new episodes and content.🚧 Email us at [email protected].🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line! ★ Support this podcast ★

Telehealth for speech therapy is under threat, and if Medicare pulls access, the consequences could ripple far beyond one program. Adults, families, and care partners lose critical care options, but that’s just the start. A Medicare rollback could trigger private insurance and Medicaid to follow suit, resulting in reduced access across the board. In this episode, we explore why telehealth is crucial for patients who can’t drive, for care partners balancing demanding schedules, and for clinicians serving rural and underserved communities. You’ll also get advocacy tools, ready-to-use letter templates, and simple ways to mobilize your practice and patients to keep telehealth accessible.Find all of the advocacy tools you need here to participate in the telehealth call to action, or check out Katie's SLPs Blueprint to Medicare Success and get $100 off with the code FixSLP.Stop paying to track ASHA-approved CEUs. Save your money and set up for a FREE CEU/PDH tracker with Speech Therapy PD. While you are there, get $10 off a professional subscription with the code FixSLP10! Thank you to our sponsor, ⭐️ Befitting You Medical Supply ⭐️,  offering AAC devices with hands-on assessments, education, and support for patients and families. Check them out!New here? Subscribe, share with a colleague, and call the Minivan Meltdown line at fixslp.com to add your voice.🚧 Want to earn some PDHs or CEUs with a discount? Find our most up-to-date promo codes and discounts here.🚧 We want to collaborate with YOU. If you would like to lead or join your state team, please email your name and state to [email protected].🚧 Become a sustaining partner to support our work.🚧 Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.🚧 Find all our information at fixslp.com, and sign up for our email list to be alerted to new episodes and content.🚧 Email us at [email protected].🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line! ★ Support this podcast ★

SLP malpractice insurance without ASHA Membership (or the CCC), fact or fiction? In this Fix SLP Summer School episode, Dr. Jeanette Benigas, SLP, and Preston Lewis, MS/SLP, discuss affordable liability coverage options for licensed SLPs who choose not to maintain ASHA membership or the CCC. They explain the ProLiability/AMBA partnership, why it’s not your only option, what policies and riders are important (malpractice, general liability, E&O, license defense), and how to shop smart for rates that fit your risk and setting.Plus: our first sponsor, ⭐️ Remedy ⭐️, an EMR built by SLPs, offering early access with 50% off your first two months. Check them out! PLUS, a quick Michigan update: Health Policy Committee vote scheduled for HB 4484.New here? Subscribe, share with a colleague, and call the Minivan Meltdown line at fixslp.com to add your voice.🚧 Want to earn some PDHs or CEUs with a discount? Find our most up-to-date promo codes and discounts here.🚧 We want to collaborate with YOU. If you would like to lead or join your state team, please email your name and state to [email protected].🚧 Become a sustaining partner to support our work.🚧 Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.🚧 Find all our information at fixslp.com, and sign up for our email list to be alerted to new episodes and content.🚧 Email us at [email protected].🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line! ★ Support this podcast ★

Burnout is hitting SLPs earlier and harder, especially as caseloads and productivity rise. Dr. Jeanette Benigas, SLP, is joined by Fix SLP’s Mikayla Treynor, MA/SLP, to chat about what burnout really is (per WHO), how high caseloads and rising productivity targets fuel it, and how to tell burnout from simple under‑stimulation. They share practical strategies you can use now: set enforceable boundaries, stop unpaid paperwork, try micro‑breaks, prioritize real rest, use therapy as a tool, track wins, choose CEUs that actually energize you, and connect with peers. They also zoom out to system‑level solutions such as workload models, employer education, and advocacy that make your day‑to‑day job better. If you’re a school or medical SLP feeling stretched thin, this episode gives you tools, language, and a plan to protect your energy and stay in the field you love.🎧 Go back to episode #67: SLPs, OTs, and PTs: How Employers Steal Your Wages (And How to Stop It) for more on wage theft.·Want to earn some PDHs or CEUs with a discount? Find our most up-to-date promo codes and discounts here.·We want to collaborate with YOU. If you would like to lead or join your state team, please email your name and state to [email protected].·Become a sustaining partner to support our work.·Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.·Find all our information at fixslp.com, and sign up for our email list to be alerted to new episodes and content.·Email us at [email protected].·Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line! ★ Support this podcast ★

Virginia is shaking up SLP licensure. Dr. Jeanette Benigas, SLP, talks with Ed Bice, M.Ed./SLP, acting president of the Speech-Hearing Association of Virginia, about their petition to eliminate provisional licenses and grant full licensure to new grads immediately upon graduation. They unpack the petition’s purpose, address mentorship versus supervision, explore impacts on The Audiology & Speech-Language Pathology Interstate Compact, and discuss how Virginia’s model could inspire other states to modernize their systems.🎧 Don't miss last week's episode for more on Virginia's petition.·Want to earn some PDHs or CEUs with a discount? Find our most up-to-date promo codes and discounts here.·We want to collaborate with YOU. If you would like to lead or join your state team, please email your name and state to [email protected].·Become a sustaining partner to support our work.·Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.·Find all our information at fixslp.com, and sign up for our email list to be alerted to new episodes and content.·Email us at [email protected].·Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line! ★ Support this podcast ★

ASHA doesn’t own the SLP Interstate Compact, but in Virginia, they used it as leverage to oppose a petition aimed at removing the supervised experience requirement for full licensure. In this bonus episode, Dr. Jeanette Benigas, SLP, and Preston Lewis, MS/SLP, unpack the petition, ASHA’s public letter of dissent, and why using the SLP Interstate Compact as a scare tactic matters for SLPs nationwide. We break down the Medicare Administrative Contractor and private insurance barriers, the CMS connection, and Fix SLP’s alternative solution to qualify new graduates for full licensure immediately after graduation while protecting both access to care and new graduate support.·Want to earn some PDHs or CEUs with a discount? Find our most up-to-date promo codes and discounts here.·We want to collaborate with YOU. If you would like to lead or join your state team, please email your name and state to [email protected].·Become a sustaining partner to support our work.·Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.·Find all our information at fixslp.com, and sign up for our email list to be alerted to new episodes and content.·Email us at [email protected].·Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line! ★ Support this podcast ★

This week on Fix SLP, Dr. Jeanette Benigas, SLP, and Preston Lewis, MS/SLP, call out the emotional and professional fallout from the Praxis exam scandal, the profession’s empathy deficit, and what the response reveals about the culture of speech-language pathology. They discuss how shame and judgment are being used to gatekeep the field, what really happened with the 180 impacted students, and what Fix SLP is doing to investigate and support those caught in the storm. Plus: how to prepare for the upcoming CCC renewal deadline and why this is a moment for reflection, action, and change.🎧 Don't miss last week's episode for the full story.🎧 Listen to our previous episode with Dr. AC Goldberg for a thoughtful conversation where differing opinions are exchanged with mutual respect and a shared commitment to improving the field.·Want to earn some PDHs or CEUs with a discount? Find our most up-to-date promo codes and discounts here.·We want to collaborate with YOU. If you would like to lead or join your state team, please email your name and state to [email protected].·Become a sustaining partner to support our work.·Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.·Find all our information at fixslp.com, and sign up for our email list to be alerted to new episodes and content.·Email us at [email protected].·Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line! ★ Support this podcast ★