POLICY LETTER: September 19, 2006 to U.S. Senator Judd Gregg

Dated September 19, 2006The Honorable Judd Gregg United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510-2904Dear Senator Gregg:Thank you for your letter of August 17 expressing your concerns about the Department's position on the maintenance and programming (mapping) of surgically implanted medical devices, specifically cochlear implants, as reflected in the final regulations for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).I regret your dissatisfaction with the Department's final rulemaking. I want to assure you that we carefully considered this matter, including your concerns, which you previously expressed in your letter of June 24, 2005. The Analysis of Comments and Changes a detailed discussion of the Department's analysis of the comments received on this issue. (See pages 46569-71 of the August 14 Federal Register, enclosed.) The final regulations reflect our determination that the term related services in the IDEA does not include the costs associated with optimization or maintenance of cochlear implants. However, the regulations also make clear that students who have cochlear implants are eligible for related services such as speech therapy, and that scEnclosurei