Steve Gleason Act Passed by US House: Latest Details, Comments and Reaction

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve the Steve Gleason Act on Wednesday, which will give citizens with disabilities greater freedoms and autonomy with their care.

“This is a huge victory for ALS patients across the country," Sen. David Vitter said, per Juan Sanchez of WDSU.com. "Making this equipment more accessible and affordable will give them the ability to communicate with their family and friends—even literally giving them a voice when they lose their ability to speak."

The bill will now go to President Barack Obama to be signed into law. Under the new system, patients with ALS and other debilitating diseases will have access to speech-generating devices that Medicare and Medicaid were previously denying. 

Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who worked closely in the passing of the bill, released a statement to Bleacher Report:

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Steve Gleason and his mother Gail feared thousands of people would lose their ability to communicate with the world around them—to share their stories; order coffee; tell jokes; ask for help; or say 'I love you.' So, I pledged to do everything I could to fix it. Life-changing innovations cannot help people when they’re collecting dust on a shelf or getting tangled in red tape. Because of Team Gleason, thousands of Americans living with degenerative diseases can have the peace-of-mind today that their voices will continue to be heard and they can still say, 'I love you.'

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Gleason, a former NFL safety who is perhaps best known for blocking a punt in the New Orleans Saints' first home game following Hurricane Katrina, was diagnosed with ALS in 2011. Colloquially known as Lou Gehrig's disease, ALS is a degenerative disease that slowly kills neurons in a person's brain. Patients are often slowly stripped of their ability to speak, walk and function on their own.

After changes to the government-funded Medicare and Medicaid threatened to take away the speech-generating devices like the one Gleason uses, he publicly advocated for an amendment that would provide additional support for the disabled.

In a statement released Wednesday, Gleason celebrated the bill's passing, per Sanchez:

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At the time, the Steve Gleason Act seemed like a long shot. It was given only a 2% chance of passing, but the ALS community never waved the white flag. That was not an option. With help from  this extraordinary ALS community of patients and caregivers, as well as advocates like the Center for Medicare Advocacy, we made some noise. A lot of noise. People, like myself, who are literally voiceless, were heard. Loud and clear. This legislation may have my name on it, but please know it is the ALS community and the diligent legislators who deserve our applause. 

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The bill calls for "eye tracking and gaze interaction accessories for speech generating devices furnished to individuals with a demonstrated medical need for such accessories." It is unclear when President Obama plans to sign the bill.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.