Page 19 - OPTA September 2018

Federal Affairs Liaison Report David Wessells, PT - Chair
As we move through the dog days of summer, things are heating up in Washington, D .C . Typically federal legislators take a long August recess, but all signs are that this year’s recess will be short . Your Federal Affairs team is working hard to reach out to legislators when they are back in the state to advocate for issues that are affecting physical therapists and our patients . Earlier this year we had some success and some disappointments on the legislative front and APTA has reframed our focus for the coming year . In April, hundreds of physical therapists and physical therapist assistants, including 15 participants from Ohio, joined me at the Federal Advocacy Forum in Washington, D .C . to meet with legislators and their teams . We were able to meet with the majority of Ohio’s representatives and both of our senators’ offices.
After last year’s repeal of the Medicare Therapy Cap, APTA is reframing its advocacy focus
and developing our new strategy moving forward . When meeting with Congress in
April, we shared how physical therapists can impact pain management and reduce opioid usage, highlighting our #ChoosePT campaign . Moveforwardpt .com provides great resources for educating patients and community members on our expertise in this area and I encourage you to use these tools and resources . We also highlighted the Sports Medicine Licensure Clarity Act, inclusion of physical therapy services in telehealth legislation, and the ongoing protection of rehab services as an essential health benefit through any changes to the Affordable Care Act .
The APTA staff in Washington also continues to advocate for prevention of 85% payment rule for physical therapist assistants, the ability for physical therapists to privately contract with Medicare beneficiaries, the inclusion of physical therapists
in the National Health Services Corps allowing
loan forgiveness for treating in underserved areas, and enhanced reimbursement for physical therapy services in all settings as payments systems transition towards value based care . For a full picture of all of APTA’s legislative work and position papers, you can visit apta .org/advocacy .
While the current political climate is challenging, our Ohio key contacts and myself are committed
to the ongoing advocacy fight for our profession, but we need your help! If you are interested in becoming more involved in advocacy work at the state or federal level, please reach out to me . Whether your involvement is large or small we have something for you . To volunteer or if you have any suggestions on how I can better serve you, please feel free to reach out .
For more information, contact David at:
david.wessells@nationwidechildrens.org
Sports SIG Report Jeffrey Swiers, PT, DPT - Chair
We hope everyone has been enjoying the year so far and that your summer has been going well . So far this year, the Sports SIG has steadily grown and has initiated a Sports PT of the Month to highlight practicing PTs and how they got into practicing Sports Physical Therapy . The Sports SIG has continued to post weekly orthopedic and sports PT articles and notable items from various physical therapy sites . We would like to encourage comments and discussion on these articles and to facilitate a community of students, physical therapists, and physical therapist assistants. We are looking for suggestions and your opinion – would you be interested in a Sports PT Podcast? Please let us know!
Please continue to check out our Facebook page: Ohio Physical Therapy Association: Sports SIG for continued updates and please stop by and “Like” the page to continue to obtain new and updated information regarding Sports Physical Therapy .
For more information, contact Jeff at: jswiers11@gmail.com
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