Outrage: Talking Dollars and Sense to Medicare

Claudia Burrows has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, and needs help to communicate with others. But she can’t understand why Medicare will pay thousands of dollars for a device that can interpret her slurred speech and won’t pay a few hundred bucks for something that’s just as good—if not better.

Burrows, 48, of Muncie, Ind., shelled out $375 of her own money for an iPod touch. The former flight paramedic loaded it with a program called Proloquo2Go, and now she can type her thoughts and the iPod voices them.

The compact iPod also serves as an e-reader, a place to take notes, store music and keep track of medication.

But Medicare won’t pay for it. Medicare spokeswoman Ellen Griffith says the program cannot cover the cost of iPods and other hand-held devices because they are designed for the general public and not for a specific medical purpose.

A friend of Burrows’, who also has ALS, got an $8,000 dedicated device through Medicare, but it was so bulky that she replaced it with an iPhone.

“This is where the government and private insurance lose all common sense,” Burrows says.

Michelle Diament is a frequent contributor to the AARP Bulletin and Bulletin Today.