Page 32 - OPTA Access March 2018

PTA Caucus Report
Sanaz Holcomb, PTA – PTA Caucus Representative
Happy New Year to all of the Ohio Physical Therapy Association members including all colleagues and students! As
we close the
door to 2017,
we must review
last year‘s accomplishments and recognize all the hard work accomplished not only
by the volunteers from the Ohio chapter but nationally within the APTA Within the physical therapist assistants in the Ohio Chapter, we are continuing to be extremely proud passing the full vote and utilizing our new voting abilities to choose our chapter delegates
In other exciting news, on November 13, 2017 the APTA came out with the following information:
[Physical therapist assistants (PTAs) are now closer than ever to being included as accepted providers under TRICARE, the payment system used throughout the US Department of Defense (DoD) health care system Last week, the Armed Services Committees for both the US House and Senate reached an agreement on a National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that includes language proposed by APTA
to add PTAs and occupational therapy assistants to the TRICARE program The APTA-backed amendment was introduced by Sen Thom Tillis (R-NC) in July and was included in the Senate version of the bill that passed in September The amendment can be found on page 379 of the NDAA The legislation will next advance to the House and Senate, where it is expected to pass in both chambers “This is great news for PTAs and patients in the TRICARE program,” said Michael Hurlbut, APTA senior congressional affairs specialist “We hope to see a bill ready for the president to sign sometime
in December Once signed into law, the changes will probably be issued through regulation, and we could see PTAs included in the TRICARE program as early as next year ” APTA will work with the DoD as the process moves forward, he added ]
And nally, on December 13, 2017, The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was passed and signed, allowing inclusion of PTAs in TRICARE just a regulation change to go by Department of Defense!
This is why #MembershipMatters in #APTA #BetterTogether The PTA Caucus continued their efforts as the year closed to continue
to push to stop the therapy cap which included many emails and calls made to representatives to explain the importance of our efforts For those not familiar to this cap, here are the break downs:
Payment under the Medicare Therapy Cap of 1997 placed an annual cap on rehabilitation services under Medicare Since that time, however, Congress has recognized the
cap’s potential harmful effect on Medicare bene ciaries and has continually extended an exceptions process that enables Medicare to pay its share for therapy services after the patient reaches the therapy cap limits
December 21, 2017 Update: Congress has not extended the exceptions process beyond December 31, 2017 For 2018, that means the policy reverts back to the 1997 BBA, which institutes a hard therapy cap without an exceptions process for all settings except the hospital setting According to the 2018 Medicare physician fee schedule, in 2018, the cap threshold is $2,010 for physical therapy and speech-language pathology services combined (There is a separate
cap of $2,010 for occupational therapy services APTA is hopeful that Congress will remedy this problem in January 2018 They must pass another continuing resolution
by January 19 to keep the government funded, and we hope it will include the pending therapy cap legislation that would permanently extend the exceptions process and establish a targeted medical review process for services over $3,000
******Remember, any Medicare patient receiving physical therapy and speech therapy three times a week starting January 2018, will exceed their therapy cap, the third week of January******** I encourage you all, including your patients, family members, and friends to participate in reaching out to your representatives and show your concern Without proper therapy, many patients
will have de cits which only will cause an increase in their medical expenses and lack of good quality of life in the future Please use this link to show your support http://www apta org/TakeAction/
The PTA caucus continues with their efforts to support the #ChoosePT campaign which is a continued effort to educate the
public about non-opioid options for pain The award-winning television and radio public service announcements receive nearly $5 million in donated air time, reaching more than 377 million Americans in 45 states
and the District of Columbia On a more broad scale, the APTA membership has surpassed the 100,000 active member mark
with a year-over-year growth rate not seen since 1994 I welcome and congratulate
all new APTA members Our association is stronger now more than ever because of your value of membership! APTA joined a successful effort to move the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services away from an orthotics and prosthetics proposal that would have reduced patient options and placed additional burdens on physical therapists
APTA continues to collaborate with sections to develop clinical practice guidelines (CPGs). As far as publications, PTNowʼs article search was upgraded to provide
rapid discovery of full-text scienti c literature from across multiple evidence-based repositories. Physical Therapy (PTJ), APTAʼs scienti c journal, got a makeover through
a partnership with Oxford University Press Readers of PTJ experience enhanced
web features and virtual issues as the journal moves to be online only by 2019 Throughout the last few months, the PTA Caucus has continued to have both virtual and phone conferences to discuss our future collaborations with the physical therapists within the House of Delegates and our continued new ventures as we now have representation within the Board of Directors We continue to build a stronger relationship with the PTs while supporting them to make our profession stronger in the clinical setting, and to help promote our mission to all We continue to educate insurers why proper
PT is pertinent to not only heal and help our patients return to more independent, pain free lives while saving them from possible future expenses which can be a result of insuf cient physical therapy. As your PTA Caucus Representative, I continue to strive to increase PTA membership in our chapter I truly believe the importance of membership and I invite you all, whether currently members or future members, to attend one of your district meetings to witness the great work that is being accomplished If you allow yourself to be exposed to the fantastic work, I believe your continued passion will allow you to maintain your membership and become more involved
In 2018, I encourage all of you to not only attend one district meeting, but to also invite a friend or coworker with you Allow yourself to be exposed to the professional networking and allow yourself to grow! I promise you will NOT be disappointed!
In closing, I thank you for taking the time to read this update and I hope to see you at the OPTA Annual Conference on April 13-14, 2018 in Columbus, Ohio #WeAreBetterTogether #PT/ PTATeam #ChoosePT
For more information, contact Sanaz at:
sanazarmand@yahoo com
32 | March 2018 | OPTA
Committee and SIG Reports