Conference Dates!

 Happy New Year from your 2021 Conference Co-Chairs! The MSHA Annual Continuing Education Conference will be held September 1-3! We are thrilled to announce that the conference will be back at the Hilton in Jackson. We are moving forward with planning an in-person conference for networking and reconnection opportunities. Please note we will make modifications if warranted due to the status of the pandemic. We will keep all members updated as the planning process continues. Stay tuned for a plethora of surprises to be announced in the near future!

Amy LeBert and Kim Ward

conference@mshausa.org

President's Message

MSHA TO-DO LIST

• SAVE THE DATE for Annual Conference: September 1-3, 2021

• Ask Two Colleagues to JOIN MSHA

• Renew Your MSHA Membership
•  Students only $15
• Clinical Fellows only $35

• Sign up for a MSHACommittee 

• Participate in VIRTUAL LEGISLATIVE DAY January 27^th 

Join me in moving Mississippi forward, 
Amy Livingston, MS CCC-SLP
MSHA President 2021 

 

Mississippi Speech-Language-Hearing Association

P.O. Box 22664 Jackson, MS 39225 800-664-6742 

MSHA Virtual Legislative Day - January 27, 2021

Attention MSHA members! 2021 is here and MSHA is submitting two bills for legislative change. These two important topics are Hearing Aid Insurance Coverage for Children under 21 (House Bill 13/ Senate Bill 2338) and the creation of an Independent Licensure Board for Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists (House Bill 85/Senate Bill 2005). We are asking that you participate in MSHA’s Virtual Legislative Day on Wednesday, January 27, 2021!

We need your help! Currently, we are putting together a grassroots effort to communicate with YOUR legislators about our two MSHA proposed bills. Have you ever heard the saying, “It’s who you know”? Well, if you have a connection, we want your legislator to KNOW. You may know the member personally, be a distant relative, neighbor, a church friend, or a constituent. But they can’t help pass these out of committee if they aren’t knowledgeable about the NEED for them.

We urge you to contact your legislative member and tell them about the importance of these two bills. You can share MSHA’s Facebook post January 27th or create your own. Record a video, post a picture, or write a comment across all of your social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) asking legislators to support these bills. Use the hashtags (#): #MSLeg2021; #HearingAidsforMSKids; #SLPAUDBoard; #MSHALeg2021; #MSHAAdvocacy; #ASHAAdvocacy. If you are friends with or follow your legislators on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, tag them in the post using @ (i.e., @rpowellslp).

You can find their contact info here at this link:

MS House of Representatives: http://www.legislature.ms.gov/legislators/representatives/

MS Senate: http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/members/s_roster.pdf

The legislators that sit on the committees that we are targeting in order to educate them about our bills are as follows:

Hearing Aid Insurance Coverage Committees:

HOUSE INSURANCE COMMITTEE

SENATE INSURANCE COMMITTEE

Hank Zuber, Chairman Kevin Ford, Vice-Chairman William Tracy Arnold Earle S. Banks Christopher M. Bell Charles Busby Oscar Denton Clay Deweese Dan Eubanks Michael T. Evans Jill Ford Jeffrey S. Guice Jeff Hale Jeffery Harness John W. Hines, Sr. Stacey Hobgood-Wilkes Steve Hopkins Tom Miles Gene Newman Omeria Scott Jody Steverson Jerry R. Turner Tom Weathersby Lee Yancey Shanda Yates Henry Zuber III

J. Walter Michel, Chairman Michael McLendon, Vice-Chairman Barbara Blackmon Kevin Blackwell Nicole Boyd Scott DeLano Hillman Terome Frazier Josh Harkins Angela Burks Hill John Horhn Dean Kirby Joseph Thomas Chuck Younger

 

Independent Licensure Committees:

HOUSE PUBLIC HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE

SENATE PUBLIC HEALTH & WELFARE COMMITTEE

Sam Mims, V, Chairman Missy McGee, Vice-Chairman Shane Aguirre Nick Bain Christopher M. Bell Cedric Burnett Billy Adam Calvert Bryant W. Clark Dana Criswel Ronnie C. Crudup Becky Currie Dan Eubanks Kevin Ford John W. Hines, Sr. Kabir Karriem Jay McKnight Dana McLean Orlando Paden Brent Powell John Read Rob Roberson Noah Sanford Donnie Scoggin Omeria Scott Fred Shanks Zakiya Summers; Rickey Thompson Jason White

Hob Bryan, Chairman David Parker, Vice-Chairman Barbara Blackmon Kevin Blackwell David Blount Chris Caughman Dennis DeBar, Jr. Joey Fillingane Hillman Terome Frazier Josh Harkins W. Briggs Hopson III John Horhn Chris Johnson Chad McMahan Rita Potts Parks John A. Polk Jeff Tate Brice Wiggins Tammy Witherspoon

 

Please contact the members of the Insurance and Public Health and Human Services Committees by phone, email, text, social media, and even in person within the next week and ask for their support of these bills.

●        Hearing Aid Insurance Coverage for Children under 21:House Bill 13/ Senate Bill 2338

●        Universal Licensure Board for Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists (House Bill 85/Senate Bill 2005

You may find sample letters to legislators below. If you are one of their constituents, be sure to state that in your message. If there are any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me by phone at:800.664.6742 Ext. 707 or legislative@mshausa.org. Your involvement matters!

Child HA Coverage Letter (download)

Independent Licensure Board Letter (download)

Rachel Powell, Chair
MSHA Legislative Committee