Fix SLP: Advocacy & Accountability in Speech-Language Pathology

What happened when the SPEAK Project went to Washington, DC, to fight for sustainable Medicare reimbursement for speech-language pathologists?

In this episode of Fix SLP, Jeanette Benigas, PhD/SLP, and Emily Watkins, MCD/SLP, share what they can about their meetings with congressional healthcare staff and senior CMS officials as the January 1, 2027, replacement of CPT 92507 approaches.

They discuss the proposed Medicare payment reductions, the national economic analysis involving nearly 1.3 million reimbursed SLP service events, and why independent data has become central to their advocacy. They also explain the role of K&L Gates, why some congressional strategy must remain confidential, and what happened in Washington that left them cautiously optimistic.

Most importantly, Jeanette and Emily explain what SLPs should, and should not, be doing during this critical phase of advocacy.

The fight isn't over. The strategy is in the next phase, and your involvement still matters.

Learn more, submit patient and family stories, or support the effort at https://speakproject.net/.

Get caught up wherever you stream podcasts!
#110: CPT 92507 Is Being Deleted? What Every SLP Must Know About the New Speech Therapy Codes
#111: CPT 92507 Q&A for SLPs: Your Questions Answered
#113: CPT 92507 Option B: This Is Our Week to Advocate
#115: CMS's NEW Pediatric G Code Explained: What Every SLP Needs to Know
#116: What the New Speech Therapy Codes Mean for Adult SLPs
#117: The End of CPT 92507: Is Your SLP Documentation Ready?

#118: It’s Time to SPEAK: Part 1 - Building the Data to Fight for SLP Reimbursement

#119: It’s Time to SPEAK Part 2 - Mobilizing Families for SLP Advocacy
#120: It’s Time to SPEAK: Part 3 - How to Write a CMS Comment That Matters

🚧 Want to earn some PDHs or CEUs with a discount? Find our most up-to-date promo codes and discounts here.
🚧 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 team@fixslp.com.
🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line!

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The data is collected. Now it’s time to make sure CMS hears from SLPs.

In Part 3 of It’s Time to SPEAK, Jeanette Benigas, PhD/SLP, and Emily Watkins, MCD/SLP, walk through the new SPEAK Project CMS Comment Builder and explain exactly what clinicians and practice owners should tell CMS about reimbursement, workload, patient access, and the real-world consequences of the proposed 2027 Medicare payment changes.

If you submitted economic data to the SPEAK Project, wait until September 10 to build your comment so you can incorporate the aggregated findings. Everyone else can start now.

And don’t wait until the last minute.

Visit SPEAKProject.net to build your CMS comment, mobilize the Friends of SLPs in your life, and help fund the legal and lobbying team that will carry this work forward.

Learn more and support the project at SPEAKPROJECT.NET.

Get caught up wherever you stream podcasts!
#110: CPT 92507 Is Being Deleted? What Every SLP Must Know About the New Speech Therapy Codes
#111: CPT 92507 Q&A for SLPs: Your Questions Answered
#113: CPT 92507 Option B: This Is Our Week to Advocate
#115: CMS's NEW Pediatric G Code Explained: What Every SLP Needs to Know
#116: What the New Speech Therapy Codes Mean for Adult SLPs
#117: The End of CPT 92507: Is Your SLP Documentation Ready?

#118: It’s Time to SPEAK: Part 1 - Building the Data to Fight for SLP Reimbursement

#119: It’s Time to SPEAK Part 2 - Mobilizing Families for SLP Advocacy

✨ Grateful to Chomper Champs for bringing so much positivity and fun to the pediatric SLP space. Follow the link to order the 🦺 Fix SLP Construction Accessory Kit 🧰, or bundle and save. Fix SLP receives 20% of every purchase, so it’s a win for everyone! ✨

🚧 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 states@fixslp.com.
🚧 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 team@fixslp.com.
🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line!

★ Support this podcast ★

SLP advocacy can't stop with data. If Medicare reimbursement fails to cover the cost of providing speech-language pathology services, patients and families ultimately feel the impact through longer waitlists, fewer providers, reduced insurance access, and practice closures.

In Part 2 of our SPEAK Project series, Jeanette Benigas, PhD/SLP, talks with pediatric occupational therapist and private practice owner Pam Marshall about mobilizing patients and families as part of a larger SLP reimbursement advocacy strategy.

After Kentucky therapy providers faced Medicaid reimbursement cuts, Pam helped create a system that made it easy for families to share their individual stories with lawmakers. Her practice generated more than 420 letters in roughly two weeks.

Jeanette and Pam discuss how SLPs and practice owners can turn patient experiences into meaningful advocacy, why individual stories matter to policymakers, how practices can make participation easier for families, and why protecting access to speech therapy will require more than SLPs advocating for themselves.

The economic data is only one piece of the SPEAK Project. Now we need data, dollars, connections, and people willing to SPEAK.

SLP advocacy can't stop with data. If Medicare reimbursement fails to cover the cost of providing speech-language pathology services, patients and families ultimately feel the impact through longer waitlists, fewer providers, reduced insurance access, and practice closures.

In Part 2 of our SPEAK Project series, Jeanette Benigas, PhD/SLP, talks with pediatric occupational therapist and private practice owner Pam Marshall about mobilizing patients and families as part of a larger SLP reimbursement advocacy strategy.

After Kentucky therapy providers faced Medicaid reimbursement cuts, Pam helped create a system that made it easy for families to share their individual stories with lawmakers. Her practice generated more than 420 letters in roughly two weeks.

Jeanette and Pam discuss how SLPs and practice owners can turn patient experiences into meaningful advocacy, why individual stories matter to policymakers, how practices can make participation easier for families, and why protecting access to speech therapy will require more than SLPs advocating for themselves.

The economic data is only one piece of the SPEAK Project. Now we need data, dollars, connections, and people willing to SPEAK.

Learn more, contribute data, and support the project at SPEAKPROJECT.NET.

Get caught up, wherever you stream podcasts!
#110: CPT 92507 Is Being Deleted? What Every SLP Must Know About the New Speech Therapy Codes
#111: CPT 92507 Q&A for SLPs: Your Questions Answered
#113: CPT 92507 Option B: This Is Our Week to Advocate
#115: CMS's NEW Pediatric G Code Explained: What Every SLP Needs to Know
#116: What the New Speech Therapy Codes Mean for Adult SLPs
#117: The End of CPT 92507: Is Your SLP Documentation Ready?
#118: It’s Time to SPEAK: Part 1 - Building the Data to Fight for SLP Reimbursement

✨ Grateful to Chomper Champs for bringing so much positivity and fun to the pediatric SLP space. Follow the link to order the 🦺 Fix SLP Construction Accessory Kit 🧰, or bundle and save. Fix SLP receives 20% of every purchase, so it’s a win for everyone! ✨

🚧 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 states@fixslp.com.
🚧 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 team@fixslp.com.
🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line!

★ Support this podcast ★

SLPs have been screaming for a long time that reimbursement is too low, costs are rising, and access to speech-language pathology services is being threatened. But can we prove it with national data?

In this episode, Jeanette Benigas, PhD/SLP, introduces The Speech Pathology Education, Advocacy and Knowledge (SPEAK) Project and its first major initiative: building a national economic dataset that shows what it actually costs to provide SLP services and turn those numbers into credible national evidence we can use to advocate directly with CMS during the current public comment period.

Jeanette is joined by private practice owner Holly Ellis, MS/SLP, and CPA Cody Underwood to discuss how North Carolina built its own cost analysis, why independent financial analysis matters, and what the national SPEAK Project will measure, including CPT 92507, dysphagia and cognitive services, treatment time, payer mix, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, workforce pressures, waitlists, and access to care.

The immediate goal: collect high-quality data from all 50 states (+ DC) and turn that evidence into meaningful advocacy.

Give data. Give dollars. Or do both.

Everything starts at speakproject.net.

Get caught up, wherever you stream podcasts!
#110: CPT 92507 Is Being Deleted? What Every SLP Must Know About the New Speech Therapy Codes
#111: CPT 92507 Q&A for SLPs: Your Questions Answered
#113: CPT 92507 Option B: This Is Our Week to Advocate
#115: CMS's NEW Pediatric G Code Explained: What Every SLP Needs to Know
#116: What the New Speech Therapy Codes Mean for Adult SLPs
#117: The End of CPT 92507: Is Your SLP Documentation Ready?

✨ Grateful to Chomper Champs for bringing so much positivity and fun to the pediatric SLP space. Follow the link to order the 🦺 Fix SLP Construction Accessory Kit 🧰, or bundle and save. Fix SLP receives 20% of every purchase, so it’s a win for everyone! ✨

🚧 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 states@fixslp.com.
🚧 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 team@fixslp.com.
🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line!

★ Support this podcast ★

92507 is changing, and SLP documentation will have to change with it.

In this episode, Jeanette Benigas, PhD/SLP, is joined by adult and pediatric private practice owners Katie Brown, MA/SLP, and Emily Watkins, MCD/SLP, to talk about what the new code set could mean for documentation, billing, compliance, and audit risk across pediatric and adult settings.

Katie and Emily share firsthand experiences with Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial insurance audits, including what payers requested, what triggered the audits, and why documentation supporting medical necessity and skilled intervention matters. They also deliberate one of the biggest shifts ahead: moving from a catch-all code to multiple service-specific codes means SLPs will need to clearly support what they treated, why it required skilled intervention, and the time spent providing that treatment.

The takeaway: do what you bill, bill what you do, and document what you do.

Whether you’re a clinician, manager, or private practice owner, now is the time to understand the changes and prepare... before January.

Resources Mentioned
👀 Check out Katie's SLPs Blueprint to Medicare Successand get $100 off with the code FixSLP

🎧 Previous episode with Emily Watkins: CMS's NEW Pediatric G Code Explained: What Every SLP Needs to Know
🎧 Previous episode with Katie Brown: What the New Speech Therapy Codes Mean for Adult SLPs

🎧 Previous episode with Katie Brown: Telehealth Coverage Expired: SLP Rules for Medicare Claims
🎧 Previous episode with Katie Brown: Telehealth Under Threat: Protecting Access for Adults and Families

▶️ Watch the Fixing the Coding Chaos series, or this episode on YouTube

✨ Grateful to Chomper Champs for bringing so much positivity and fun to the pediatric SLP space. Follow the link to order the 🦺 Fix SLP Construction Accessory Kit 🧰, or bundle and save. Fix SLP receives 20% of every purchase, so it’s a win for everyone! ✨

🚧 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 states@fixslp.com.
🚧 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 team@fixslp.com.
🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line!

★ Support this podcast ★

The new Medicare speech therapy CPT codes are coming, and adult SLPs need to prepare.

In this episode, Jeanette Benigas, PhD/SLP, is joined by Katie Brown, SLP of Neuro Speech Solutions (@neurospeechsolutions), to discuss how the new code family replacing 92507 could impact adult speech-language pathology across Medicare Part B, skilled nursing, outpatient, home health, hospital outpatient, and private practice.

They discuss how the new codes may affect reimbursement, scheduling, productivity, documentation, cognition treatment, Medicare Advantage, commercial insurance, and ethical billing. They also explore why accurate utilization data will be critical to future advocacy for higher reimbursement rates.

Whether you own a private practice, work in a SNF, outpatient clinic, hospital, or even pediatrics, this conversation will help you understand what's changing, what questions remain unanswered, and how to start preparing now.

Topics include:
• The new adult SLP CPT codes
• Replacing 92507
• Medicare Part B billing
• Cognition reimbursement
• Documentation changes
• Productivity concerns
• Private practice and SNF implications
• Ethical billing and future advocacy

Resources Mentioned
👀 Check out Katie's SLPs Blueprint to Medicare Successand get $100 off with the code FixSLP

🎧 Previous episode: CMS's NEW Pediatric G Code Explained: What Every SLP Needs to Know

🎧 Previous episode: New York Early Intervention in Crisis
🎧 Previous episode with Katie Brown: Telehealth Coverage Expired: SLP Rules for Medicare Claims
🎧 Previous episode with Katie Brown: Telehealth Under Threat: Protecting Access for Adults and Families

▶️ Watch the Fixing the Coding Chaos series, or this episode on YouTube

✨ Grateful to Chomper Champs for bringing so much positivity and fun to the pediatric SLP space. Follow the link to order the 🦺 Fix SLP Construction Accessory Kit 🧰, or bundle and save. Fix SLP receives 20% of every purchase, so it’s a win for everyone! ✨

🚧 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 states@fixslp.com.
🚧 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 team@fixslp.com.
🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line!

★ Support this podcast ★

CMS surprised speech-language pathologists with a proposed pediatric G code, creating new questions about reimbursement, billing, and the future of pediatric speech therapy.

In this episode, Jeanette Benigas, PhD/SLP, is joined by billing expert Rick Gawenda and pediatric private practice owner Emily Watkins, MCD/SLP, to break down what the proposed G code actually means, who it applies to, and why it matters far beyond Medicare.

Topics include:
• Who the proposed pediatric G code applies to
• Why commercial insurance and Medicaid may choose different billing paths
• Timed CPT codes vs. the proposed G code
• How reimbursement could change for pediatric practices
• Operational challenges for clinics and business owners
• Why giving payers multiple billing options may create inconsistencies
• The risks surrounding untimed codes and future payer audits
• Why understanding RVUs and practice expense matters
• What clinicians and practice owners should consider before submitting comments to CMS

Whether you're an employee, private practice owner, school-based SLP, or administrator, these proposed coding changes have the potential to affect your reimbursement, documentation, scheduling, and future practice.

This episode is designed to help you understand the proposal, not tell you what position to take, so you can make informed decisions on how to comment before the CMS comment period closes.

✨ Grateful to Chomper Champs for bringing so much positivity and fun to the pediatric SLP space. Follow the link to order the 🦺 Fix SLP Construction Accessory Kit 🧰, or bundle and save. Fix SLP receives 20% of every purchase, so it’s a win for everyone! ✨

🚧 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 states@fixslp.com.
🚧 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 team@fixslp.com.
🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line!

★ Support this podcast ★

ASHA launched a new consumer-facing website, and SLPs immediately started digging. In this episode, Jeanette Benigas, PhD/SLP, and Stephanie Feero, MS/SLP, unpack the newly rebranded Communication Health Support Association (CHSA), its connection to ASHA, and the financial and organizational questions surrounding the rollout.

The conversation explores CHSA’s 70-year history, ASHA's evolving mission statements and strategic objectives, tax filings, membership positioning, ProFind listings, and the ongoing debate surrounding the CCC. Jeanette and Stephanie also examine public IRS Form 990 data, nonprofit structures, affiliate language, and the broader implications for clinicians and the future of the profession.

This episode discusses publicly available documents, organizational timelines, and the growing questions many SLPs are now asking after discovering a consumer-facing association that has existed for decades with little public awareness, all mixed with a little sass and a few tin foil hat theories from Jeanette.

✨ Grateful to Chomper Champs for bringing so much positivity and fun to the pediatric SLP space. Follow the link to order the 🦺 Fix SLP Construction Accessory Kit 🧰, or bundle and save. Fix SLP receives 20% of every purchase, so it’s a win for everyone! ✨

🚧 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 states@fixslp.com.
🚧 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 team@fixslp.com.
🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line!

★ Support this podcast ★

CPT 92507 Option B is officially in front of the AMA Editorial Panel, and this is the week that decides what happens next. In this episode, Jeanette Benigas, PhD/SLP, sits down with a private practice owner of 44 years, Mary Billings, MS, CCC/SLP, who has seen Medicare cuts before, and is sounding the alarm again. What’s being proposed isn’t just a coding change. It has the potential to reshape how SLPs document, bill, and treat patients across every setting, including private practice, schools, hospitals, Medicaid, and Medicare. No one is exempt.

You’ll hear exactly why the applicants submitted Option B, what’s at risk if SLPs stay silent, and why this moment is so rare. Opportunities like this don’t come around often, and once decisions are made, they can take decades to undo. If you care about your practice, your patients, or the future of this profession, this is the time to pay attention. This is the moment.

Connect with Mary at Billings Speech Pathology Services or Function Focus Academy

This episode is sponsored by Metro EHS, a growing, clinician-supported organization using a collaborative care model across disciplines. Learn more at metroehs.com.

✨ Grateful to Chomper Champs for bringing so much positivity and fun to the pediatric SLP space. Follow the link to order the 🦺 Fix SLP Construction Accessory Kit 🧰, or bundle and save. Fix SLP receives 20% of every purchase, so it’s a win for everyone! ✨

🚧 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 states@fixslp.com.
🚧 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 team@fixslp.com.
🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line!

★ Support this podcast ★

Leaders from the West Virginia Speech-Language-Hearing Association (WVSHA) join the conversation to discuss advocacy, leadership, and the role of state organizations in speech-language pathology.

Dr. Tori Gilbert, SLP, private practice owner and current association president, and Allegra Cornaglia, PhD/SLP, assistant professor and convention chair, share their experiences working within a state association and supporting clinicians across West Virginia. They discuss how WVSHA operates, opportunities for SLPs to get involved, and why clinician leadership at the state level matters.

For SLPs interested in advocacy, professional leadership, or understanding how state-level organizations influence the profession, this discussion offers insight into how change happens within SLP.

🚧 Check out or join the West Virginia Speech-Language-Hearing Association here.

🚧 Register for the WVSHA Convention, April 28-29, 2026, and don't forget to use FIXWV at checkout for the membership rate, no matter who you are or where you live.
🚧 Follow WVSHA on Facebook.

✨ Grateful to Chomper Champs for bringing so much positivity and fun to the pediatric SLP space. Follow the link to preorder the 🦺 Fix SLP Construction Accessory Kit 🧰, or bundle and save. Fix SLP receives 20% of every purchase, so it’s a win for everyone! ✨

Register for the directory at https://www.speechconnect.org/and support the fundraiserthat will help launch Speech Connect nationwide.

🚧 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 states@fixslp.com.
🚧 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 team@fixslp.com.
🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line!

★ Support this podcast ★

SLPs had a lot of questions after our last episode on CPT 92507, so we brought back healthcare reimbursement expert Rick Gawenda to answer them.

In this Q&A episode, we talk about:
🛠️ Why CMS flagged 92507
🛠️ How the proposed 30-minute base codes would work
🛠️ Why SLP timed codes are not the same as PT/OT
🛠️ Questions about schools, Medicaid, documentation, and more

If you're an SLP allied professional trying to understand what the CPT 92507 proposal could mean for speech therapy services, reimbursement, documentation, and access to care, this episode will help you make sense of the policy debate.

The profession is watching closely, and clinician voices matter.

You can find Rick Gawenda on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, or at https://gawendaseminars.com/.

✨ Grateful to Chomper Champs for bringing so much positivity and fun to the pediatric SLP space. Follow the link to preorder the 🦺 Fix SLP Construction Accessory Kit 🧰, or bundle and save. Fix SLP receives 20% of every purchase, so it’s a win for everyone! ✨

Register for the directory at https://www.speechconnect.org/and support the fundraiserthat will help launch Speech Connect nationwide.

🚧 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 states@fixslp.com.
🚧 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 team@fixslp.com.
🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line!

★ Support this podcast ★

CPT 92507 is being deleted and replaced with new time-based speech therapy CPT codes. What does this mean for SLP reimbursement, Medicare billing, work RVUs, and compliance?

In this episode of Fix SLP, Jeanette Benigas, PhD, is joined by Rick Gawenda to break down:

• Why CPT 92507 was targeted for review
• The new proposed speech therapy CPT codes
• RUC work RVU recommendations
• Practice expense implications
• The shift from untimed to timed codes
• The risk to auditory processing disorder and communication in the new code language
• How audits and payer denials could increase
• What SLPs can do before the March 6 open comment period

The AMA CPT Editorial Panel approved deleting 92507 and creating ten new time-based treatment codes. But what’s missing? Language that includes auditory processing disorder, communication, and flexibility for real-world therapy sessions.

If you’re a speech-language pathologist in private practice, outpatient therapy, pediatrics, hospital, SNF, or home health, this episode explains exactly what is happening and what could change in 2027. This is the episode every SLP needs to hear about CPT 92507.

You can find Rick Gawenda on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin, and Facebook, or at https://gawendaseminars.com/.

✨ Grateful for Beaming Health’s partnership in helping clinicians handle insurance so they can focus on patients. Make sure to let them know that Fix SLP sent you! ✨

Register for the directory at https://www.speechconnect.org/and support the fundraiserthat will help launch Speech Connect nationwide.

🚧 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 states@fixslp.com.
🚧 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 team@fixslp.com.
🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line!

★ Support this podcast ★

Speech Connect, SLP directory, private practice growth, ASHA ProFind alternative, and access to speech therapy, this episode covers it all.

Dr. Jeanette Benigas sits down with Jordyn Montique, MS/SLP (@jrc_theslp), founder of Speech Connect, a new free, community-driven directory for licensed speech-language pathologists. Speech Connect allows families to filter by identity, specialty, neurodiversity-affirming care, insurance type, private pay, teletherapy, and more, FOR FREE, without requiring the CCC.

In this conversation, they discuss why families struggle to find the right SLP, how long waitlists limit access to care, why representation in speech-language pathology matters, how private practice owners can build sustainable referral networks, and why decentralizing gatekeeping in the profession is critical to the field's future.

If you’re an SLP, private practice owner, or family searching for speech therapy services, this episode explains why Speech Connect may change how clinicians and communities connect.

Register for the directory at https://www.speechconnect.org/and support the fundraiserhelping launch Speech Connect nationwide.

Want to binge some of our top episodes? Get caught up with Colleen Ashford (The ASHA Convention that Changed Everything) and AC Goldberg (I'm Not Dropping the CCC and Here's Why)

🛠️ Stop paying to track ASHA-approved CEUs. Save your money and set up for a FREE CEU/PDH trackerwith 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 states@fixslp.com.
🚧 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 team@fixslp.com.
🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line!

★ Support this podcast ★

In this State by State episode, Dr. Jeanette Benigas talks with Emily Bromer. MS/SLP, from the Speech-Language-Hearing Association of Virginia (SHAV), about what a state membership organization actually does and why it matters for SLPs.

They discuss how SHAV supports Virginia SLPs and audiologists, the benefits of state association membership, CE opportunities, student leadership development, how advocacy priorities are set, and details about the 2026 SHAV Annual Conference in Richmond, Virginia, including a special discount for nonmembers using the code FIXSLP10.

If you’ve ever questioned whether joining your state association is worth it, this episode offers a practical look at how state-level professional organizations build community, shape policy, and support clinicians.

Learn more about the Speech-Language-Hearing Association of Virginia, and don't forget to use code FIXSLP50 for $75 off the non-member registration at the SHAV annual conference, March 30-31.

In case you missed them:
➡ Ed Bice, M.Ed./SLP, acting president of the Speech-Hearing Association of Virginia, discusses SHAV's petition to eliminate provisional licenses and grant full licensure to new grads immediately upon graduation in episode 93.

➡ Listen in on an open and honest conversation about burnout, fear of mistakes, productivity pressure, and why so many clinicians feel like they’re never doing enough, even when they’re doing everything in episode 106.

🛠️ Stop paying to track ASHA-approved CEUs. Save your money and set up for a FREE CEU/PDH trackerwith 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 states@fixslp.com.
🚧 Become a sustaining partner to support our work.
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🚧 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 team@fixslp.com.
🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line!

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In this solo episode, Jeanette Benigas, PhD/SLP, unpacks why speech-language pathologists across the country are suddenly questioning ASHA’s CCC refund policy, and what changed to prompt those questions.

Many clinicians are discovering, often for the first time, that ASHA membership and the Certificate of Clinical Competency (CCC) are bundled in ways that were never clearly explained on renewal invoices or on ASHA's website, and that refunds are cut off after January 1. This episode explains what ASHA’s refund policy actually says, how it applies to both membership and certification, why assumptions about “required” credentials are starting to fall apart, and why SLPs may be owed a refund if one is requested.

Jeanette also explains how employer misrepresentation, unclear renewal processes, and shifting information environments have contributed to confusion, and why this moment isn’t about outrage, but about transparency. You’ll hear practical guidance on consumer protections, documentation, and appropriate channels for raising concerns, including state consumer protection offices and the attorney general's complaints process.

This episode is about clarity, informed choice, and understanding your rights when credentials, money, and employment intersect.

🛠️ Stop paying to track ASHA-approved CEUs. Save your money and set up for a FREE CEU/PDH trackerwith 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 states@fixslp.com.
🚧 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 team@fixslp.com.
🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line!

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Burnout is driving talented SLPs out of the profession, and perfectionism is a major reason why. In this episode, we break down the myth of the “perfect SLP” and how unrealistic expectations that start in grad school, intensify through credentialing culture, and follow clinicians into the workplace are breaking speech-language pathologists. We talk honestly about burnout, fear of mistakes, productivity pressure, and why so many clinicians feel like they’re never doing enough, even when they’re doing everything. This conversation reframes burnout as a systemic problem, not a personal failure, and names what SLPs actually need to stay in the field.

If you missed the infamous Dr. Kroll and Phuong Palafox discuss burnout, get caught up here!

Stop paying to track ASHA-approved CEUs. Save your money and set up for a FREE CEU/PDH trackerwith 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 states@fixslp.com.
🚧 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 team@fixslp.com.
🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line!

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After an unexpected eight-week silence, Dr. Jeanette Benigas returns to the Fix SLP Podcast to explain where she’s been, what’s been happening behind the scenes, and why stepping away was necessary.

In this episode, Jeanette addresses burnout in speech-language pathology, advocacy fatigue, care partner strain, and the pressure of being constantly accessible while leading a clinician-driven movement. She speaks directly to listeners, supporters, and sustaining partners who felt confused or unsettled by the silence, offering transparency without dramatization.

You’ll also hear how Fix SLP is moving forward with clearer boundaries, better planning, and a more sustainable approach to podcasting and advocacy, so the work can continue without burning out the people doing it.

If you’re an SLP navigating burnout or invested in clinician-led advocacy, this episode offers clarity, accountability, and a path forward.

Stop paying to track ASHA-approved CEUs. Save your money and set up for a FREE CEU/PDH trackerwith 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 states@fixslp.com.
🚧 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 team@fixslp.com.
🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line!

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In this listener mailbag episode, SLP grad students, clinicians, and private practice owners call the Minivan Meltdown line to share what’s really happening behind the scenes in our field.

First, a grad student with a repaired bilateral cleft lip and palate describes a supervisor who told her she “can’t be a good SLP” because of her speech difference. Dr. Jeanette Benigas and Preston Lewis, SLP, break down discrimination in training, how CCC standards exclude disabled and Deaf clinicians, and why difference is not disorder.

Next, a medical SLP who accidentally dropped her CCC in 2008 shares what happened when she kept her state license and kept working. We talk shame culture, confusion around the CCC, mutual recognition agreements, and why so many CCC “rules” fall apart under scrutiny.

Finally, a private practice owner in Kentucky explains how pediatric F-codes (like F80) were treated as “mental health” diagnoses, triggering visit caps, mass denials, and 12–18 month reimbursement delays. We unpack F-code chaos, the Mental Health Parity Act, and why small practices shouldn’t be the ones stuck fighting insurers.

If you’ve ever been gaslit by a supervisor, confused by the CCC, or crushed by insurance games, this episode is your reminder: you’re not the problem. The system is.

Stop paying to track ASHA-approved CEUs. Save your money and set up for a FREE CEU/PDH trackerwith 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 states@fixslp.com.
🚧 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 team@fixslp.com.
🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line!

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SLP burnout isn’t a personal failure; it’s a systems problem. In this episode, Dr. Jeanette Benigas and Preston Lewis, MS/SLP, talk with researchers Dr. Tobias Kroll (Texas Tech) and Phuong Palafox, SLP, about their study, “The Invisible Workload of School-Based SLPs.” We cover why SLPs are advocating (and being ignored), how caseload vs. workload, siloed roles, and “martyr culture” fuel overwhelm, and where leadership and IDEA compliance pressure go off the rails. You’ll hear practical wins that work now, and bigger-picture fixes universities and national orgs must lead. If you’ve ever been told to “practice self-care” while your schedule balloons, this conversation gives language, evidence, and steps to push back... together.

💛 Connect with Phuong Palafox on her website or Instagram.
🧡 Connect with Dr. Tobias Kroll on his website, ResearchGate, or LinkedIn.

Stop paying to track ASHA-approved CEUs. Save your money and set up for a FREE CEU/PDH trackerwith 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 states@fixslp.com.
🚧 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 team@fixslp.com.
🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line!

★ Support this podcast ★

Dr. Jeanette Benigas, SLP, sits down with Oregon SLP Kara Hayden, MS/SLP, to unpack how clinicians organized, lobbied, and helped pass a state law requiring hourly pay, ending pay-per-visit in home health and hospice. They cover timelines, productivity pressure, joining an existing nurses’ union, building a small core team, securing a sponsor, writing testimony, and answering the big question: “Won’t agencies just pay less?” If you’re ready to push for change in your state, pay models, Medicaid rules, or workplace policies, this episode gives you the blueprint and the courage to start.

Brought to you by Verse Therapy, the business-in-a-box solution for SLPs who want to start, run, and grow private practice with confidence. Verse Therapy makes private practice a realistic option by providing an AI-integrated EHR, marketing support, cohort trainings, and a team that helps you build your brand and run your practice like a pro. Learn more at https://versetherapy.com/.

Stop paying to track ASHA-approved CEUs. Save your money and set up for a FREE CEU/PDH trackerwith 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 states@fixslp.com.
🚧 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 team@fixslp.com.
🚧 Leave a message on our Minivan Meltdown line!

★ Support this podcast ★