House clears ALS assistance bill

The House easily passed legislation on Wednesday to make it easier for people with Lou Gehrig’s disease to buy speech-generating devices.

Lawmakers passed the bill by voice vote in both the House and Senate, which now sends it to President Obama’s desk.

The measure changes Medicare coverage regulations so that people with Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), can buy medical equipment instead of renting. It further expands the types of equipment that qualifies for Medicare coverage to include eye-tracking and gaze-interaction devices.

{mosads}Such devices can be used by people suffering from ALS who are unable to use their limbs due to the loss of muscle control. Eye-tracking devices, for instance, allow people to type using their eyes.

The bill is named after Steve Gleason, a former New Orleans Saints football player who is battling ALS. Members of the Louisiana congressional delegation rallied around the measure, including its author, Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), and House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.).

“Simply put, any move by Medicare to make it more difficult to live with ALS would be a tragedy,” Gleason wrote in a Washington Post op-ed last year.

Scalise recalled attending the 2006 New Orleans Saints game against the Atlanta Falcons in the Superdome shortly after Hurricane Katrina. Gleason blocked a punt from the opposing team to ultimately win the game, propelling him to football stardom.

“But the reason that Steve Gleason inspires people today is not because of what he did on the football field. It’s because of what he’s done to serve as an inspiration for people all across the country, people with all disabilities, since he was diagnosed with ALS,” Scalise said.