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Committee stays speech‑language clinical fellowship rule 90 days to allow statute and reimbursement questions to be resolved
Summary
The Government Operations Committee voted to stay for 90 days a Department of Health rule that updates accrediting references and extends time for clinical fellows in the speech‑language licensure pathway, after lawmakers raised concerns about statutory temporary‑license provisions and Medicare reimbursement.
The joint Government Operations Committee voted on June 24 to place a 90‑day stay on a Department of Health rule that would update accrediting references and extend the clinical fellowship pathway for speech‑language pathologists.
Olivia Johnson, legislative liaison for the Department of Health, said the proposed change aligns the state rule with current American Speech‑Language‑Hearing Association (ASHA) standards and would give clinical fellows more time to complete required supervised clinical fellowships while on provisional licenses. The department said the board that oversees communications disorders supported updating the accrediting information and had no public comments on the proposal.
Senators and representatives raised broader statutory concerns during a parallel conversation about temporary licensure and reimbursement: committee members noted a recent Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) decision that said it would not reimburse services provided under certain temporary licenses, and that the temporary‑license pathway is established in statute rather than rule. Senator Crowe urged caution and asked the department to coordinate with Senator Watson, who intends to pursue legislative work on the statutory pathway.
Given the interplay between statute and federal reimbursement, the committee voted to stay the rule for 90 days to allow further consultation among the department, legislators and counsel. Department staff said they would continue to work with lawmakers and revisit the rule after the statutory questions and reimbursement clarifications are resolved.
