Ensuring Access to Medicare Outpatient Therapy Services

[rayilynlee <rayilynlee@xxxxxxx>]

Ensuring Access to Medicare Outpatient Therapy Services

Ray
Rayilyn Brown
Past Director AZNPF
Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation



From: Parkinson's Action Network=20
Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2010 12:06 PM
To: Rayilyn Brown=20
Subject: Ensuring Access to Medicare Outpatient Therapy Services





      Health Reform:  A Look at Medicare Therapy Caps



      Yesterday, March 23, 2010, President Obama signed into law health =
care reform legislation.  One provision of the legislation was a =
one-year extension to the exceptions process for Medicare outpatient =
therapy services.  For the last several months, PAN has been working =
with the Therapy Cap Coalition, a group of over forty groups =
representing patients and providers, to reinstate the Medicare therapy =
caps exceptions process. =20

      Congress allowed the exceptions process to expire on December 31, =
2009 and a therapy cap limit of $1,860 for occupational therapy and a =
separate cap of $1,860 for physical therapy and speech language =
pathology services went into effect on January 1, 2010.  People with =
Parkinson's disease commonly have a medical need for physical, =
occupational, and speech language therapy.  The Medicare therapy cap of =
$1,860 is arbitrary and places an unnecessary burden on the Parkinson's =
community.  An extension of the exceptions process means that many =
people living with Parkinson's will now be able to continue their =
medically necessary therapy services for no additional cost.

      The health reform legislation only reinstates the exceptions =
process through December 31, 2010, so PAN will continue to work with =
Congress to permanently repeal the Medicare therapy caps. =20

      To learn more about the Medicare therapy caps, click here.



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