ASHA's Million Dollar Meals

In this episode of Fix SLP, Dr. Jeanette Benigas, SLP, discusses the hot topic of ASHA's finances, joined by Elizabeth Nielsen, MA/SLP, and Preston Lewis, MS/SLP. The trio unpacks key insights from ASHA's 2023 Form 990, discussing eyebrow-raising numbers like the $1.3 million catering bill and the hefty salaries of executives. They also explore the transparency (or lack thereof) surrounding member dues, the CCC, and how ASHA allocates its revenue.

Listen in as they address frustrations from SLPs nationwide, share actionable steps to advocate for change, and reveal how grassroots efforts are reshaping the field. Don't miss the Minivan Meltdown segment, where real stories from SLPs highlight the need for systemic reform.

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Creators & Guests

Host

Jeanette Benigas, PhD, SLP

Host of Fix SLP

Host

Preston Lewis, MS, SLP

Co-host of Fix SLP

Guest

Elizabeth Nielsen, MA/SLP

What is Fix SLP?

Fix SLP is grassroots advocacy firm here to challenge the status quo in speech-language pathology by driving real change—from insurance regulations to removing barriers to full autonomy like the CCC. This podcast is your space to learn, engage and take action in the field of SLP. We don’t wait for change, we make it. So let’s fix SLP!
Hosted by Jeanette Benigas, PhD, SLP

Speaker 1 0:00
Yes, it looks like they're spending like drunken sailors on shore leave eating the finest caviar and sweet meats and wines.

Jeanette Benigas 0:07
Hey, fixers, I'm Dr Jeanette Benigas, the owner of fix SLP, a grassroots advocacy firm here to challenge the status quo in speech language pathology by driving real change from insurance regulations to removing barriers that prevent full autonomy like the CCC, this podcast is your space to learn, engage and take action in the field of speech language pathology. We don't wait for change. We make it so let's fix SLP.

Hey, everybody, welcome back. It's Jeanette. We are jumping into Asha finances if there was a more popular topic for us to talk about. We don't know what it is, but we get the highest number of viral posts in our content when we lead with money. So we are going to be leading with money for the rest of the year, not for the clicks and the likes, but because we finally got our hands on the 2023 Asha 990 form. So with me today, I have Elizabeth Nielsen of tiny voice therapy. She is our content coordinator and also in house finance specialist. We love her. She does an amazing job, but she she's the one who combs through these papers and these reports and these numbers and like, gets out our little calculator. So she'll be joining us hopefully the rest of the month, and I will mostly sit quietly while she shows her brilliance. And we also have Preston Lewis, he I don't, I forget whatever fancy title I gave him, but he's here, he's on the pod, and he also, he loves a minivan meltdown. So we have one of those today. Preston,

Speaker 1 2:14
I don't, I don't love, I don't love that people have minivan meltdowns, but I love when they feel compelled to share. Okay, I'm not. I'm not the person who's saying, you know, go cry in the car. I didn't, I didn't write that.

Jeanette Benigas 2:28
No, we're, you're just offering the space for people to unload. Yeah, it should be a safe space. It doesn't have to be an unload. We know meltdown is in the word, but you can celebrate too. So absolutely, we'll just jump into this. We keep these anonymous, but this particular one is from a very engaged fixer. This person's name comes up all the time. I recognize the name. So thank you for engaging with us, and thank you for sending us a message. So here we go.

Minivan Meltdown 2:57
I am really upset about SLPs, who are so ingrained in staying the same and not moving forward and still awaking expecting to wake up one day and ash is magically going to support us. And then for those of us who want to see real change and are trying to do our best to promote real change. We get a but if it doesn't work that way, or it's fine, I'm really sick of hearing it's fine. I especially hear a lot of it's fine when I see clinicians very overwhelmed, working too hard, giving too much of themselves, and not setting good boundaries. So I really don't want to be told it's fine anymore by anyone, because it's not fine. It's not fine. I just talked to a colleague the other day who's trying to find a new job and is discovering that insane productivity standards are the rule rather than the exception in private practice. So it's just sort of a combination of trying to get more people moving the needle forward, more SLPs being proactive and trying to assert their autonomy and be advocates for themselves. We're such great advocates for our clients. Quit saying it's fine and don't take jobs with unrealistic productivity standards. We just can't afford to do it anymore. That's all. Thank you.

Speaker 1 4:29
Well, we appreciate the words as always. And I think it reminds me of that old advertising campaign for Apple. Think differently. I think that was what they said.

Apple's "Think Different" advertising campaign 4:40
Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, The round pegs in the square holes, the ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. The. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, about the only thing you can't do is ignore them, because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones we see genius, because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.

Speaker 1 5:31
Don't keep accepting the same thing year in and year out and expect a different result. That's certainly not been the case for our profession the last 20 years, as we've kind of slipped into stagnancy.

Elizabeth Nielsen 5:42
Yeah, And I always like the quote like, once you know better, you do better. Once you kind of, I've done a lot of unlearning with my practice. We all have to change with just this evolving profession that we're in. Once you see all these things with what's going on with ASHA, hey, once we know it, let's change it. Let's challenge that status quo, because what's working now, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 6:09
And, well, I agree. And also it's about growth, it's about evolution. And I often find that the Yeah, I call it the pointy headed academic elitism. Sorry for those out there that you know identify with that, but don't continue to project that, because that's that's what I've always seen it. I still see it projected today. Put up message forward that appeals to the working class clinician that's out here trying to meet their productivity, that's trying to decide if they want to even stay in the field. It's, it's still academic thinking, and it's, it was a off putting when I was in college. It was off putting when I started out in this profession, and years later, I see a lot of the same bad actors. Yeah. Speaking of growth, the one thing that's certainty is the numbers for Asha just keep getting bigger and bigger. And I'm looking at these documents and Elizabeth, this is a lot of money, a lot of money.

Elizabeth Nielsen 7:12
The first thing I've sent you guys catering.

Jeanette Benigas 7:16
Wait, wait before we jump into that. Okay, I just want to say about this money that keeps growing. Obviously, we don't know this for certain, and we won't actually know numbers until they come out, probably at the end of next year, right? I'm not sure at some point the next round of membership numbers will come out, but right now we are in the thick of renewal season. You are all making decisions about purchasing membership. CCC, what are you going to do? And we're hearing from a lot of you, and we are seeing a lot of posts that you all are changing your minds and going in a direction away from Asha, which is amazing. And you know, this is about choice, so if, if you can't or don't want to make that decision at this point, fine, but we love the support so other people can make those decisions. But I think we have Asha a little bit nervous, because two days ago, a bunch of clinicians, we can't say everyone, because I didn't get this email, but a lot of clinicians got an email about a live chat coming up in January. So we we've already so many of you, so many of you. I, I'd like to say hundreds. It wasn't that many, but so many of you commented, sent private messages, sent emails. You all let us know, what is this? I, while we don't know for sure, it appears to be a direct response to the loss in revenue that they are experiencing right now because of all of you. And so that tells us that we are making change, which is great, and we usually sit out on those types of things, but I don't know. I, you know, I sat in the one that happened right after we started this movement. And after that, I've declined to be there, but I just might get my popcorn together. We might do a live watch party with our team. And, you know, watch the infomercial, because who really wants to watch a 90 minute infomercial from the person who profits the most off the sale of the product, right? Like, what? What do you think you're going to hear, other than you should buy our product, and this is why it's wonderful we may be there watching and questions, just so we're clear, because many people have asked us, What do you want us to ask? Or we want you to ask, what you. Know we're not going to feed you questions, but also you have to ask your question when you register, so make sure you do that and just be fully prepared that they will not be answering your questions. They heavily vet these things. They pick them before they start their PR team, their lawyers all write these questions. I can assure you, these are not coming from the lips of the CEO. She is being vetted and prepped for what she is to say or what these quote expert panelists are supposed to what, what? Expert what anyway, so we have some revenue reports here in front of us, but maybe next year, some of this will change, so we'll see. Okay, thank you.

Speaker 1 10:44
It would be refreshing. Yeah, it would be refreshing if, at the outset, because they've had two or three of these meetings so far, and they all take on the tone like you described Jeanette. Wouldn't it be nice, though, if they came out and said, we recognize that some things are not right, that something does smell in the state of Denmark, and we want to respond to that, and we are going to start listening a bit more and making some changes. I think just that attitude alone, that would be different, that'd be pleasant.

Jeanette Benigas 11:19
Yeah, would go a long way.

Elizabeth Nielsen 11:21
Taking some of that accountability, I think we would be more engaging and have more respect for that. Then, even when you're submitting these questions, you're limited to characters. My question was a lot longer and I couldn't submit it. So give us, give us the platform. Let us have our voice. We're, yeah, we're paying members.

Another virtual town hall, you know, I was thinking, at least with the timeshare meeting, sometimes you get a box lunch. I would like to get that catered Asha meal, because, I mean, we've got to get to this. We've We've teased it enough, this catering. Elizabeth, how much money is this?

Oh, that was the first thing I sent you guys when I was looking through these reports, because that was the first thing that stood out to me. So Asha last year. So for 2023 has spent one point, almost 1.3 million alone on catering. I'm kind of speechless. I This is our member benefits money going towards catering. How is that benefiting us as SLPs in the field, when we all work through our lunches, I grabbed a handful of almonds, and we're working through our lunches, and some of us don't even get a lunch, and they're paying or spending 1.3 million on catering.

Speaker 1 12:44
And this is coming at a year where they've asked for some increases from us. They're asking us to pay more. There's always additional fees. There's just it's it never ends. As far as how much they will put their pocket or put their hand out, you know, their speakers have to pay them at convention to just give a presentation, their CEUs that they, you know, make money on coming and going. I I'm reminded, though, when it comes to fiscal restraint, I'll tell this quick story. Back in 2002 Salt Lake City held an Olympics, which was heralded for years. This is going to happen, and they had this committee that would organize for the Olympics, and they were woefully out of touch financially, and just gone way over budget. And a guy named Mitt Romney, who ran for president, came in and took over those Olympic Games. And one of the things he did, and I'll bring to this point home, is he looked at the catered meals that their board was having brought in and how much money was being spent on it, and he said, this is over. And instead, he had Domino's Pizza get delivered, and everybody passed around two or three bucks for each slice, and they ended up actually coming out ahead on their meal budget. Now that's an extreme, you know, example, and certainly there are times where you have, you bring people in, you're going to have some meals. But that's, that's a lot of money for a nonprofit organization, which is not in the office that often. So that's all I can say on that.

Elizabeth Nielsen 14:11
We're, we're are they sending these caterers, right? And on the last CEO chat, you know, they brought up how well we need to increase these dues because we have to pay for paper. Well, now, how about cutting these catering costs that would be financially responsible for you guys to do that.

Jeanette Benigas 14:35
It seems excessively high for 365 days. So like Preston said, Sure, there's going to be times where, you know, there's catering, right? But I started to think about it, they only have three in person board meetings a year. Are they feeding them during that? Probably. So I. Uh, but what are they feeding them? Like you said, you can do a pizza. You can you can do and it, it is hard to ask because, you know, while the rest of us pack lunch, it's easy to say, well, they can take their lunches, but if they're all traveling in from out of town, that's that's a bigger challenge. But maybe even they don't cater every day, because you know you're gonna have to eat that day anyway. So go get get an hour break, like you do at CEUs, and go take your lunch. And I'm pretty transparent with what we do with our fixer money in all of the time that we've been getting sustaining partners, we have spent money on food one time, one time, we had a three day retreat that we all funded ourselves, and we went to dinner where we did not excessively eat, and we I treated the team as a thank you for all of the work that they do to a dinner, and that was it, every other meal we paid for on our own and and you know, as servants, that's what you do. These are volunteers serving our organization. And again, while there is an expectation of sure have a meal like, does it need to be every meal catered? Absolutely not. Put them up in a hotel that serves breakfast. Get a Holiday Inn, right? Get a Holiday Inn. There's, there's buffet breakfast. Go, go get it. So there's that same with the ASHA convention. I happen to know that there's always a side room where they are feeding the staff meals. Speakers aren't getting meals. Clinicians aren't getting meals. Vendors aren't getting meals. But the ASHA staff is the rest of us have to go. We have to pay to be there and then leave the convention hall, or stay in the convention hall and stand in very long lines to go find food and pay for it ourselves when we've paid to be there, but they're feeding their staff. No, no, no, those people are being paid. That's a work day for them. They're being paid to be there. To me, in my mind, that's a cost that can go right out the window again. Stay at a place where there's free breakfast, maybe get them a pizza one day, and every other meal, go get your own freaking dinner. This isn't why I'm coming to this convention, especially as someone who's been invited multiple times by ASHA, who has had to fund my own way that that's just something that really irritates me. And what rubs me even more is I got a phone call this morning from a vendor who has been to many Asha conventions, and that vendor told me that typically, when you buy vendor space, the only thing that's included is a table and two chairs. This year, if you wanted a table or any chairs you had to pay for those individually. And this person said it was cheaper for us to take an Uber over to Costco and buy a table in two chairs than it was for us to rent them from Asha. What we can't even give our vendors who are paying to be there, feeding into your system, we can't even give them a table and chairs. Come on. Come on. Yeah, no.

Oh, and then what you posted today with the tags, the name tags, if you lose it, you have to pay $10 for that expensive paper.

Preston Lewis 19:03
And, you know, go, get back to like that group. Think that was hysterical when someone said, well, they have to do that because somebody might come and try to fake their way into the convention. My God, who's going to get on a plane to Seattle and go say, You know what? I'm not going to pay the entry fee, but I'm going to go and I'm going to make a bootleg card here, or I'm gonna steal somebody and borrow it and get their way in. I mean, the amount of mental gymnastics there is incredible, and I get it. I mean, getting away from single use plastics, yeah, that's nice, but $10 for two do a reprint fee. My God, what is going on here? What level of distrust exists within the SLP community?

Jeanette Benigas 19:42
Also, okay, so someone does sneak in, they're not getting PDH for it, because if you snuck in, there is no way to report, so it won't you will not get a certificate, nor will you have it reported to a registry if you pay for a register. Street. So go ahead and sneak in and owns nobody's being paid for this, except for them. If I find my talk fine, whatever.

Preston Lewis 20:13
I am. I mean, listen to this. I mean, logical thinking. Who the hell would slip in there? Why would you want to sneak into the edge convention. People sneak into the Super Bowl. They sneak into, you know, a concert or something exciting, but Asha, really, I'm going to sneak in there. That's That's sad. I if there's that person is out there, they are in my prayers tonight.

Elizabeth Nielsen 20:34
Preston, you're the best. Oh,

Jeanette Benigas 20:40
Okay, so, so we've got this huge catering bill. We don't know what it went to. What else do we need?

Preston Lewis 20:47
Well, let's, let's get to the yeah. How about the big numbers here? So what's the what's the bottom line on, like, gross revenue we've got in the statement.

Elizabeth Nielsen 20:54
If we're looking at expenses. So ASHA has 327 employees combined, if we're looking at their salary, their pension benefits, all of that, they are getting about 47 point 4 million a year. Or, you know, combined with all 327 so math wise, if we were to average it, it would be about $145,000 yeah. That each employee would get, salary wise, again, that's just an average. There's definitely going to be lows and highs with that.

Jeanette Benigas 21:31
I wanted to jump in there and say too, because you sent some of this to us last night. And like to be fair, one person gets $600,000, right?

Elizabeth Nielsen 21:41
So that's separate on so this, okay, I believe this is for the 327, employees, because then..

Jeanette Benigas 21:50
Interesting and see, this is why we have Elizabeth running the show. And then I'm just chiming in as a normal, brained thinker, they can't process all of this. So maybe that is not someone's number right here. So they can't write that number

Elizabeth Nielsen 22:09
2.9 million for the directors officers. So the the 12... 12, people, the CEO, and everyone else on that and again, this doesn't, this isn't the board of directors. They do not get paid. It's a volunteer position. This is for the CEO and other executives, the 12 of them combined, 2.9 million.

Jeanette Benigas 22:34
I mean really, that that number is so close to 3 million? Yes, 2.9854 Yeah, before that's $3 million they're paying to 12 people, yep. Why? Why are they having that 90 minute infomercial again?

Elizabeth Nielsen 22:51
Yeah, yeah. And also on the I don't know if we want to talk about this too, but like on this form, they have to report how many hours they work a week. The CEO is reported to work 70 hours a week. I don't believe it. So you're working 10 hour days, seven days a week, 14 hour days, five days a week. Baloney, and we're accomplishing a lot more, where we're all working full time and have multiple jobs. And do I have an aside?

Jeanette Benigas 23:30
I have to wonder, the CEO does a lot of traveling to state conventions, and obviously is, you know, at ASHA. So when that traveling occurs, I suspect the clock starts ticking the minute her toe crosses the threshold of her front door because she has left for work. The rest of us don't do that right when we travel and we're complicated for our jobs you can't do we're not paid per hour. We're, you know, that's, that's just a given that you know you're gonna have to try. If you travel for work, you're gonna have to travel. But I'm willing to bet that every minute of travel time, every minute sleeping in a hotel, I bet a lot of that is counted and then averaged out over the entire year. If I if I was a betting gal. What do you think Preston does that? Am I off base there?

Speaker 1 24:25
No, I think that's that's pretty standard for a lot of executives, particularly with, you know, even some peer organizations. And so, you know, is that dismissing that, though, is that forgiving this? You know, you could say it's par for the course, but again, you go back to the reality of an organization that's got its handout at the start of the year and is asking for more money, is continuing to perpetuate a miss sold item for generations. And. And that, to me, is the issue is that you, you can't operate, you know, where you, on one sense, you operate like a multi level marketing organization, but on the other, you claim this piety and that you're above it all, and you're just benevolent. So sure, I think that, you know, she's probably, you know, well compensated. There's a lot of things that are there for executives. But are you growing as an organization? Are you evolving? Are you listening to your membership? Those are the challenges that I would put forward, and that's, that's what a good executive is doing. That's not me making a, you know, analysis on her, but right now, we've got these numbers, we've we've got what we've seen in terms of pattern and behavior. I think it's, it's worth their scrutiny. And I'd also wonder, you know, has there ever been a financial strategic plan down the line? You know, it seems like they just kind of stumble forward into one big idea, whether it's buying this big building and that they're never in or, you know, let's go out and get the really nice catering. What's the long term, you know, impact here? How do you foresee forestalling another rate increase?

Jeanette Benigas 26:12
I want to propose another question here too, as we talk about these numbers that will tie to our petition, and if you're a new listener, where you haven't followed, we did submit a petition that proposed, as should be a little more transparent with their finances, and as such, charge a fair market value for the CCC and membership, because, as it stands right now, when you look through their finances, At least this was based off of last year's 990 not the one that we have in front of us, but they they spend somewhere between 12 and $20 per clinician to maintain the CCC program. And so that just depends on what you include as a CCC line item and what you include as a membership item. But then when you add up the stuff that really clearly is membership, they're grossly under charging. So they're charging $221 for a product that really only cost them 12 to $20 and then they're charging 29 for the membership, and they are subsidizing those activities with the money from the CCC. This is making my point here. I did the math at 234,000 members, which is what they reported for last year, times $26 that it cost during the time of the form we're looking at that comes out to $6 million what did we just say? The number was for just 12 employees,

Elizabeth Nielsen 27:51
almost almost 3 million,

Jeanette Benigas 27:54
Right. So this is the point. Here is that they're using the money for the CCC program to pay for all of this stuff, and the ASHA leader alone has got to be the printing the now nonprofits get a lower postage rate, but it's not free, so publications 1.6 million, when you look at it like that, they are bringing in $6 million from membership, but they're spending far more than that on the membership benefits and The membership staff and the membership details they are subsidizing their membership program with a product, and that is the point of what we're trying to tell people here is that you're getting ripped off. They do that because they know they have us bound to the CCC, and just like you're seeing now, a mass exodus will and can occur when people get ticked off or they just don't want to pay anymore, which is why they only offer that $29 membership. Because they're like, oh, you know, we've heard it ourselves. Well, $29 isn't that much. What's the point? Well, the point is, we have to make a point. Even if it is only $29 it all adds up.

Speaker 1 29:22
The point is, it's a it's a loss leader business model. You're taking something that is camouflaged as a license, and I'm sorry it is. I this is interesting. I went back and looked at an email I got last year from I have, you know, two or three different employers, and I got an email the start of the start of the year, send us your asset license for this year. And I didn't think, you know, I didn't think a thing about it. This is, you know, pre fixed, SLP, Preston. And I said, yeah, here's my license. I think I even said it. And I thought, bloody hell. I mean, you know, I like to think that I'm one of the people who's now had their eyes open, but not for. That long, and so it's a loss leader business model. It's predicated on a miss sold product, and that's what the petition was about. It asks for that honesty, like you said. And here's a bold idea. How about this new board and this CEO, who's still relatively new, start charting a course as to how can we start adjusting that over time? Maybe where we set a plan strategically, to where we do increase the membership and proportionately, maybe decrease the CCC. There just are options there, but it requires an element of truth. So I I'm going to get real quiet on the pod, and that's me headed back to work, so I've got to drop off the call. You two have fun with the numbers.

Jeanette Benigas 30:47
Bye Preston. Thanks. All right. So what I also want to point out is, you know, Preston asked pointed out, like transparency, make a change. They have a chance to do that. We put in a bylaw petition to change the bylaws to have them do that. And instead of just doing it, they're fighting it, and now what they're going to do is pay a team of lawyers with that CCC money to fight, to keep the curtain closed and keep everything a secret, and just keep operating the way in which they have been. So if, if you already aren't mad, get fired up about the fact that now they're spending your money that you've supposedly paid for the CCC program, they're now going to use that money to uphold the cost of the CCC and uphold the dishonest cost of membership. That's now how they're going to spend your money. And the longer we're not going away, the longer they let this go on, the more money they're going to spend. I don't think they think we have a lawyer. And I think they think I, I truly think they assume we're bluffing. They haven't heard from our lawyer yet, by the way, but they will. They will. It's coming, so I they're gonna shake in their boots, and then they'll blame it on us. Well, you know, we, you know, I'm sure that's gonna do. We wouldn't have to spend your money on that, if people would just fall in line. We're not falling in line now. We're not anymore.

Elizabeth Nielsen 32:33
No, we can't. We can't keep going on like this. It's not financially stable for anyone, for Well, for the people on the ground, it's not right. And so even with that, you know, with the due revenue versus what they're spending on lobbying for us, it's 2.2% 2.2% of that 48 million that they're getting in dues, only 2.2 is spent towards lobbying. And is that lobbying to uphold what is the cost of the CCC right now? It makes sense. They make you one body. What are they lobbying for? Now, at this point,

Jeanette Benigas 33:26
I think Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rates, yeah, but have we seen it? Well, there was a small change in medic Medicaid, but there's also states that are doing that. I mean, we did it in Ohio without a lobbyist. So do you even have to spend the money on those lobbyists when independent clinicians in states are getting it done on their own right? And also, is that, is that a benefit of membership, or is that a benefit of the CCC? Exactly. That's not a benefit of the CCC. Nope. Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement have nothing to do with the CCC. You don't need the CCC to bill for those things in almost every situation.

Elizabeth Nielsen 34:14
Yep, we just came out with that this week. Medicare doesn't even require it

Jeanette Benigas 34:21
I'll even give a quick percentage. So if you want to go statewide, 50 states plus DC for Medicare, 50 states plus DC for Medicaid, there's eight states right now. And actually, we were just contacted by someone in a state who's like, I think it's not actually required. And so we're still going to say eight, but it actually, I think, is seven. We'll be coming out with that as soon as we're sure that we're sure. So you know, in 94 cases out of 102 you do not need the CCC. So. So that's 84% of the time you don't need this. The CCC has nothing to do with those reimbursement rates. So I'd say that that is a membership benefit. That is the type of function that a membership association should have, and really they should be putting much more into it, protecting our codes, looking at caseloads, doing something about unrealistic productivity standards, like we heard at the top of this episode, protecting clinicians, and then maybe we would want to join you're making this better for us. Take all my money. You know, who's a great example of this fix? SLP, we've done some things this year. People see us doing this, and are people unloading their pockets our way? Absolutely not. But we're hearing that you guys have done more for us and for this profession in one year than ASHA has done for us in years. I'll send my money to you all day,

Elizabeth Nielsen 36:10
Right? Because we're providing those resources and that help for each state that these representatives want to hear from their constituents, and so we're encouraging all of these SLPs at the state level to reach out and make those changes, and that's where the big change is going to be. Not big associations, yes, they can help, but these representatives want to hear from their constituents and and we're, you know, we're using that sustaining partnership to help with moving that needle, to making those changes in each state. And even, you know, in their Q&A on ashes website, they had a graphic like, understanding where your ash to do's money goes. And they put, like, a nice little graphic underneath that, but it says Asha operating budget, not exactly like, Hey, these are the where it actually goes. It's just a budget. Like, I can say, like, Yeah, I'm gonna budget 50% of my gross revenue for self care. That's not going to happen. So it's just, this is a projection of what we're like thinking like, oh, it's going to be about this. And under advocacy and public relations, they have like 11% we know that the lobbying, the advocacy, is at 2.2% so the public relations can include member education, media, public relations,

Jeanette Benigas 37:51
Infomercials.

Elizabeth Nielsen 37:52
Infomercials.

Jeanette Benigas 37:56
Get around the clock for that. Add another 71 hours a week. Gotta get that infomercial in.

Elizabeth Nielsen 38:03
So it's just another example of just the slight little wordings on a lot of these things that make it appear that, hey, look at all that we're doing when if we're looking at the meat and bones of all of it, this is just a proposed budget. It's not the reality. Yeah, the reality is in the finances and the financial reports.

Jeanette Benigas 38:27
So it's very misleading. Again, Asha not being transparent, misleading the general public, misleading clinicians, all of these things add up to a bad look.

Elizabeth Nielsen 38:39
Do you want to know? Another misleading thing that they Yes, would you like to know? Okay, so back in February, when they raised the dues, and a lot of us were very unhappy about it, you know, they had to come back and explain why they're doing it, and one reason why was because their IT expenses were raising their within the last five years, their IT expenses increased by 200% so that's why we have to increase the dues. But if you're looking at 2018 so, because right now we're looking at the 2023 report. So five years from that 2018 their expenses for it was about 2.1 million. And for this, for 2023 their IT expenses were 4.1 million. So that's a 96% increase, not 200% let's be transparent with these numbers here. Don't throw out a number because we're going to look into it. We're going to figure out what is really happening. So don't just throw out a number and think, oh, oh, look at this. The IT cost is going up by so much we gotta oue dues.

Jeanette Benigas 40:02
we know at this point, they just hand us the content, right? They just...

Elizabeth Nielsen 40:06
They make it easy for us.

Jeanette Benigas 40:10
Do they even think through what they say and what they put out there, and these choices that they're making like also this week, as people are resigning from Asha or choosing not to renew membership, Asha is shutting down their membership benefits immediately. There are some states where that is illegal, and so if we're talking about refunds, probably like the prorated rate, and the refund would be less than $5 and so they know they're going to get away with it. Everyone's like, Oh, I smell a class action lawsuit. Well, no, they're not. There's not enough of us. A lawyer's not going to take that on. There's no money there. And so they know that. And are you going to spend your time fighting Asha over less than $5 No, they know that, and so that's why they're doing this in every state, even where it's illegal, because they know at least historically, they're going to get away with their bad behavior. It doesn't matter, because no one holds them accountable and no one does anything about it. And so a post did go up if that, if that's what happened to you, you might not get your money back, and there maybe isn't a whole lot that can be done to recoup that at this moment, but document it and then file a complaint with your State's Attorney General. We have content from December 5. Thursday, December 5, it posted at noon Eastern. You can go find that and file the complaint. Just do it, because you're building a case, you're building a case, right? You're opening a file. And so someone else complains and someone else complains and someone else complains. And then next year, they start doing something else, and then there's complaints about that. And eventually there is a big enough file where that Attorney General is like, maybe we ought to take a look at this organization. Yeah, right. Maybe on their radar for sure, right? So start the file. You know, it's like, if something happens to you legally, you go make a police report. Maybe something won't happen today, but if there's enough police reports, you're just you're contributing to the evidence that can be used later on.

Elizabeth Nielsen 42:27
Mm-hhmmm. We're doing that even in Illinois right now with early intervention, there's not enough complaints where we're not getting an increase in budget. So we're trying to advocate for these families to make complaints to the state, because it's, again, not on their radar. So it's like, oh, everything's fine. We're just going to keep doing what we're doing. And so we need to be submitting complaints to fight for ourselves, right?

Jeanette Benigas 42:53
So Elizabeth, I know it's it's probably hard, especially since people aren't looking at these numbers with us. Sometimes it's hard, I know my brain, to listen to a 45 5060, minute podcast on just random numbers being thrown out. So I think we're very purposely going to keep some of these on the shorter end compared to some of our other episodes, so they're a little more digestible and easier to take in. So I don't think there's any other numbers we want to share today, but what can they expect in the next couple weeks? Why should they click subscribe and come back? What else are we going to be talking about?

Elizabeth Nielsen 43:31
So we'll also be talking about the revenue, everything that comes into Asha, not just the dues, but other revenue, and then the assets ashes assets, and what that looks like. And those are big numbers too, and important numbers. So make sure you're listening, following along, rating, reviewing all the things.

Jeanette Benigas 43:55
I've said this in a previous episode, it might even have been the last one that we recorded, that we do need to reach more people, especially those not on social media. And we did have someone who who reached out. I can't remember if it was an email or something, but the person said, I am not on social media. And, you know, thankfully, people were sharing, and that's how I found fix SLP, and so it was great because she heard me say that and said, You know, I'm one of those people, so it is important to be sharing in as many possible ways as you can talking about it at work, so your coworkers, know, and even students. Every year there is a new group of students coming in. Yep, I had a student contact me the other day to talk about my research, and I made sure that student knew about fix. SLP, the student did not, and I said, go talk about it at school. Yeah. So before we wrap up, I do want to share we've had a good handful of five star ratings and reviews coming in. So thank you to the people who are doing. That again, that's that's how this podcast gets suggested, suggested to other people. It doesn't so much do anything for us, but it does help get the word out there. So I'm going to pick a new one that just came in. This is dw in Texas fix SLP is bringing to light all of the questions and concerns SLPs have had for years and providing us with practical steps to advocate for our profession. This is a central education for all SLPs, and really anyone working in rehabilitation. Thank you fix SLP, for all your hard work. Well, thanks. Thanks for that reading and review so you guys, this is where we're going to wrap up the engagement these last few weeks has been wild. Keep it coming. Let's hear your minivan meltdowns. You can link to that in the comments, or I have it up on our website [e-mail] and we'll see you next week. Thanks for fixing it, everybody.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai