Action Alert: Therapy cap repeal bill — Take action!

Our first call to action for 2017 is an important one — to repeal the Medicare therapy cap! Without Congressional action, the therapy cap exceptions process will expire at the end of this year, so a repeal of the cap in 2017 is key.

On February 1, the bipartisan “Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act” was reintroduced in both the House and the Senate. The House bill (H.R.807) is sponsored by Representatives Erik Paulsen (R-MN), Ron Kind (D-WI), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and Doris Matsui (D-CA); 43 other members of the House of Representatives joined them as original cosponsors. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) is once again leading the bill (S.253) in the Senate. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Bob Casey (D-PA), and Dean Heller (R-NV) joined him as original cosponsors of the Senate bill.

H.R.807/S.253 seeks to permanently repeal and replace the $1,980/year cap imposed on physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology services. In order to achieve a repeal of the therapy cap, extend the exceptions mechanism, or maintain the manual medical review process, corrective legislation must be passed before each provision expires on December 31, 2017.

THIS CONGRESS: Follow the links to see the Representatives who have now cosponsored H.R. 807, as well as the Senators who have cosponsored S.253. If your legislator is on one of these lists, please thank them for their support of these bills.

2016 CONGRESS: Find the Representatives who cosponsored H.R.775, last year’s repeal bill, and the Senators who cosponsored the Senate version, S.539, in 2016. If your legislator is not on the list above, but is on a list for 2016, please ask them to renew their support in 2017 by cosponsoring H.R.807/S.253.

To do so, call your representative and ask for the health legislative assistant with this message:

• Thank you for representing me and my patients in Congress.
• Either thank the Member for their support, or request the legislative staff recommend that their legislator cosponsor (see which one above) the Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act (H.R. 807/S.253) because of the positive impact the provisions in the bill have on the therapy profession and millions of our nation’s elderly who rely on rehabilitative services to live a quality life.
• The deadline is fast approaching and now is the time to fix this policy which arbitrarily limits care and imposes a severe and unfair hardship on Medicare beneficiaries.

Here is just one of the many links you can use to find your representative and their contact info: www.whoismyrepresentative.com. It takes just two minutes of your time to call.

Together we can make a difference.