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ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESFifty-seventh Legislature First Regular Session |
Senate: HHS DP 7-0-0-0 | APPROP DP 9-0-1-0 | 3rd Read 25-3-2-0 |
SB 1207: AHCCCS; speech therapy; cochlear implants
Sponsor: Senator Leach, LD 17
Committee on Health & Human Services
Overview
Requires the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) to cover the costs of speech therapy and cochlear implants for eligible persons who are at least 21 years old.
History
Established in 1981, AHCCCS is Arizona's Medicaid program that oversees contracted health plans for the delivery of health care to individuals and families who qualify for Medicaid and other medical assistance programs. Through contracted health plans across the state, AHCCCS delivers health care to qualifying individuals including low-income adults, their children or people with certain disabilities.
For eligible persons who are at least 21 years old, the limits and exclusions for health and medical services for AHCCCS coverage is as follows: 1) outpatient health services do not include speech therapy; 2) prosthetic devices do not include hearing aids, dentures, bone-anchored hearing aids or cochlear implants; 3) percussive vests are not covered health and medical services; 4) durable medical equipment is limited to the items covered by Medicaid; 5) nonexperimental transplants do not include pancreas-only transplants; and 6) bariatric surgery procedures, including laparoscopic and open gastric bypass and restrictive procedures, are not covered health and medical services (A.R.S. § 36-2907).
The AHCCCS Director administers the Hospital Assessment Fund which consists of monies collected from an assessment of hospital revenues, discharges or bed days for the purpose of supplementing AHCCCS funding from the Prop 204 protection account and the Arizona Tobacco Litigation Settlement Fund (A.R.S. §§ 36-2901.08 and 36-2901.09).
A cochlear implant is a small, complex electronic device that can help to provide a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard-of-hearing (NIH).
Speech therapy is the assessment, diagnoses and treatment, by a speech-language pathologist, of communication and swallowing disorders. Speech therapy helps persons develop and maintain the ability to speak more clearly, understand and express thoughts and feelings and eat and swallow safely (Mayo Clinic).
Provisions
1. Removes speech therapy and cochlear implants from the list of health and medical services that are limited or excluded from AHCCCS coverage for persons at least 21 years old. (Sec. 1)
2. Forbids Hospital Assessment Fund monies from being used to provide speech therapy in an outpatient setting and cochlear implants to eligible persons who are at least 21 years old. (Sec. 1)
3. Makes technical and conforming changes. (Sec. 1)
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7. SB 1207
8. Initials AG/BG Page 0 Health & Human Services
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