Reactions to the NY Times Article
“Medicare Would Rather Buy $8000 Computer than $150 iPhone App”
Read post on GIZMODO The Gadget Blog.
“This is a very powerful article. As the cost of helpful technology drops, companies are finding it hard to compete and keep up.”
Read post on A Jew in Reindeer’s Clothing.
Chris Parandian says:
“insurance companies would rather spend $8000 on a bulky PC device that requires disabling most of the functionality of the PC instead of $300 on an iPhone that can change someone’s life.”
“we’ve lost two family friends to A.L.S., this is an outrage…”
“ALS Is Front-And-Center In The New York Times Again!“
“This time there is an excellent article on covered technology, ALS, and common sense (and how they don’t converge). People with ALS have much to contribute to the discussion of healthcare reform and healthcare delivery.”
-ALS Advocacy
“Need another reason to hate insurance companies? Even their computers suck.”
-LiVEJOURNAL
This one is my favorite:
“The NY Times listens to those who struggle to use their voice…”
-All Together We Can
“Medicare/Medicaid won’t pay for the iPhone or the app because the iPhone has more than one function. It can be used for purposes other than treating a disability, so they won’t cover it. This is absolute insanity.”
-I4U NEWS
“Insurers Fail To Keep Up With Speech Technology, Deny Funding For Devices That Multi-Task.”
-Medical News TODAY
“Woman replaces $8,000 medical gear with iPhone”
-Telecom Asia
my note: I actually did unlock my $8,000 speech generating device for $45. I still found it useless. My home computer is an ordinary Mac Powerbook. After my disappointment with the dinosaur-like device that Medicare and my secondary insurance provider approved and paid for, I footed the bill myself to turn my own computer into a fully functioning AAC device complete with dual switch access; a superior layout program for customizing or designing my own on-screen keyboards, functions, mouse behaviors, etc., all accessible by any input device or by various scanning methods; a switch program to run all the scannable keyboards/panels; an excellent communication program for speech; some of the highest quality voices to use as my voice; an on-screen keyboard program with the most amazing and intelligent word/phrase prediction and completion I have ever experienced. The result was a great computer that is also a highly sophisticated AAC device. I spent less than $900 to turn an ordinary computer into an alternative access speech generating device. That was two years ago. Since then, I purchased an iPhone and an app called Proloquo2Go. This is what portability is all about!
“Text-to-Speech Technology Reaches an Inflection Point”
-Bits Blog, New York Times
-kara