Woo Hoo PDaddy, you are hooked up! Medicare Rocks, my mom's other insurance wouldn't pay for the cough assist claiming she didn't need it so we did out of pocket for it until her Medicare kicked in.
Lisa, My mom's suction machine was vital! She used it constantly. Cough Assist was hard for us to use but we were glad we had it when we needed it. The cough assist can bring up what is stuck in the throat, but the suction machine can get pretty far back there too especially since many PALS don't have a gag reflex. Mom was on several meds to thin secretions which helped prevent thick phlem from getting stuck in her throat, but we still needed to suction saliva and drainage all the time. You might mention to the speech therapist that the suction machine does work for PALS I don't think it's the best advice to tell people they are ineffective.