Washington Speech-Language-Hearing Association

Washington Speech-Language-Hearing Association (WSLHA) is an organization that promotes professional excellence in speech-language pathology and audiology.

Mission: Empowering and connecting current and future professionals through advocacy, education, and leadership development, to foster equitable, inclusive, and culturally respectful collaboration with our communities.
Vision: An engaged and thriving community empowered to enrich communication and quality of life for all.

WSLHA is an American-Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) recognized state association.

Volunteer Opportunities Available – Are You?

Are you looking for a way to grow and take advantage of an opportunity to help yourself, your colleagues and your patients, clients, or students. WSLHA, as a volunteer-based organization, has many such opportunities.

Several of our committees need your ideas, your creativity and some of your time. Consider joining one of them. Contact the WSLHA website and complete a volunteer application or email the office to express your interest. WSLHA’s Volunteer Coordinator, Judith Bernier, will contact you to explore the possibilities. Briefly most committees meet once a month for an hour with some work on projects between meetings as needed. Time involvement is estimated at 1-3 hours a month.

The following committees are looking for your assistance – Communications, Membership, School Affairs, and Continuing Education. It’s a great way to meet new colleagues, to strengthen your skill set, to develop your leadership and to grow as a professional. Come join our community of Washington SLPs/Audiologists and Assistants.

Capitol News

WSLHA Priorities:

HB 1589, our fare contracting bill, is scheduled for a committee vote in the House Health Care & Wellness Committee on Wednesday! We are working with the prime sponsor, Rep. Bronoske, and our coalition on amendments to both strengthen the bill and respond to some comments by the insurers. Click here to ask your legislators to support HB 1589.

Health Care Bill of Interest:

On Thursday, the Senate Health & Long-Term Care Committee will hear SB 5683. This bill requires health carriers to report timeliness of claims payments to providers to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC), to be published on the OIC website. This bill will provide public transparency in claims payments by insurers. If you would like to message your legislators about this bill, click here.

SB 5254, the medical records bill from the Washington State Association for Justice (trial lawyers). This bill caps how much providers can charge for medical records at $50. Providers, including WSLHA, have weighed in with comments stating that the $50 is too low to reimburse for the staff time involved in producing medical records. No committee vote scheduled yet. If you would like to message your legislators about this bill, click here.

HB 1392 and SB 5372 create the Medicaid Access Program to increase Medicaid reimbursement rates to the Medicare rate as of December 31st, 2024. This includes reimbursement for emergency department, maternity services, inpatient and outpatient surgery, inpatient visits, office and home visits, consults, and other services. The Medicaid Access Program will be funded by a “covered lives” assessment on health insurers and Medicaid managed care organizations. A hearing is scheduled on SB 5372 in the Senate Health Care & Wellness Committee on Thursday. If you would like to message your legislators about this bill, click here.

General News:

The pace keeps increasing at the Legislature, with the first cutoff deadline approaching next week. All bills must pass their policy committee by Friday the 21st to keep moving through the process. Bills that do not pass their policy committees by that deadline are likely dead for the session. The fiscal committee cutoff is just around the corner on February 28th. It’s likely that many bills will die on the 28th due to their fiscal impact to the state budget.

The budget deficit is getting more real every day. This week, we learned that Governor Inslee’s “book one” budget (the all-cuts budget that was never made public) contained over $7 billion worth of cuts to health care, human services, higher education, long term care, and developmental disabilities. We expect to see the results of Governor Ferguson’s 6% budget reduction exercise sometime the week of February 24th. The results will be sobering indeed.

To C or Not to C: Making Decisions about Your SLP Licensure and Accreditations in Washington State

Disclosure: WSLHA receives grants and advocacy support from ASHA

Recently, WSLHA has received questions from our SLP community about maintaining ASHA CCCs. As the cost of living is on the rise, many SLPs are looking for ways to cut expenses. ASHA membership or certification is not required to be a member of WSLHA, and we neither endorse nor oppose ASHA membership or certification. While the decision about maintaining your ASHA Cs is yours and yours alone, there are several things to consider:

Clinical and ESIT settings. Most clinical settings and ESIT agencies in Washington require SLPs to hold state licensure from the Department of Health. ASHA Cs are not required for state licensure, but licensure requirements mirror the requirements for Cs. Some insurance companies and healthcare organizations still require ASHA Cs in addition to proof of license. If you are considering dropping your ASHA Cs, talk with your employer or insurers first.

School settings. While ESA certification is required by OSPI for SLPs working in Washington State public schools, ASHA certification is not. However, some school districts prefer or require their SLPs to hold licensure and/or ASHA Cs. If you already have your ASHA Cs, ESA renewal is easy. Just upload a copy of your ASHA certificate when you log into the e-certification system. If you do not have ASHA Cs, you will need to provide proof of 100 clock hours earned over a 5-year period.

Supervision: If you enjoy supervising and mentoring students and clinical fellows, take note. For students enrolled in ASHA accredited Master’s degree programs, ASHA requires that supervising clinicians hold and maintain their Cs.

Working abroad: Considering working outside of the US? A number of countries have mutual recognition of professional association credentials. For example, ASHA certification is recognized by the national associations of Canada, Ireland, UK, Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore, but those countries may not recognize your state licensure. If you plan to work abroad, check your destination country’s requirements first.

Changing professional settings. Many clinicians start their career in one setting and explore others along the way. One of the advantages to being an SLP is the option to work across different settings. While ASHA Cs might not be required in your current setting, they could be required in a future setting.

ASHA Membership vs Certification. Did you know that you don’t have to be an ASHA member to retain your Cs? You can also be an ASHA member without certification. Contact the ASHA Center for more information about these options and the associated costs.

Final thoughts. WSLHA encourages you to carefully consider your options for ASHA certification and membership, keeping your present and future needs in mind. Regardless of your ASHA certification or membership, we encourage you to be involved in WSLHA. Many of the decisions that are made at the state level affect your practice. WSLHA is your voice in Washington State.

Deirdre Curle, PhD, CCC-SLP is Past-President of WSLHA. She lives in Seattle and is a speech-language pathologist at the Washington Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Youth. She holds ASHA Cs and affiliation with SIG 9, Pediatric Hearing and Hearing Disorders.

Resources