Page 8 - HOH

34 LOCAL NEWS AWEMainta Diaranson, 1 November 2023

AZV Informs:

Inclusion of Speech

Therapy in Health Insurance

IN accordance with the national decree

establishing general measures as of
August 29, 2023, outlining regulations
regarding the right to speech therapy
assistance, starting from September

2, 2023, speech therapy has been
included in the coverage of AZV health
insurance. This is a benefit for both
children and adults.

Current Status
The expansion of AZV to include speech
therapy is a highly positive step, and

AZV has not halted. AZV held initial
meetings with speech therapists to
gather specific information about their
profession and expectations to reach a

contract. Within this process, contin-
uous evaluation has been conducted
on the AZV Law’s provisions, including
how AZV can practically execute the

speech therapy benefit. It is expected
that contracting will occur soon,
ensuring the satisfaction of policy-
holders. AZV will communicate when

the contracting process is complete.
advisor can approve the request if rhythm disorders, and abnormal oral
Procedure and Co-payment there is a medical indication. behavior. For example, a person with
What does this mean for AZV policy- Parkinson’s disease, where the general

holders? If your general practitioner or Co-payment practitioner sees the need for speech
specialist deems it necessary, they can For speech therapy care, there is a therapy. Or a person falling under the
refer you to treatment with a speech co-payment of 10% of the fee. The autism spectrum. Or a person who has
therapist. Speech therapy is a treat- 10% co-payment is paid for each suffered a stroke and needs to relearn

ment to recover, improve, or maintain session directly to the speech thera- speech or swallowing.
the functioning of hearing, voice, or pist.
speech organs. Additionally, speech What is not covered?
therapy can assist with speech therapy Treatment According to AZV law, permission for

and issues related to eating, drinking, Treatment can be requested for the treatment cannot be granted if it is
or swallowing. Your general practi- following cases: hearing impairment unnecessarily expensive, complicated,
tioner or specialist (as those who can and deterioration of hearing function, or ineffective. Treatment for dyslexia,
prescribe speech therapy) will make voice disorders, language disorders, language development related to

the request for treatment to the AZV reading and writing disorders, articu- dialect or another language, and music
medical advisor. The AZV medical lation disorders, nasality, fluency and therapy is also not approved.