Is Medicare Direct Access Finally On Its Way?
According to
a recent report by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), the U.S. Senate has introduced legislation that would increase access to physical therapy services for Medicare beneficiaries by removing the need for a physician's referral or certification of the plan of care in those states in which direct access is authorized, says the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA).
The legislation follows the U.S. House proposal released this past March.
Under the Medicare Patient Access to Physical Therapists Act (S 950), introduced by Senators Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Arlen Specter (D-PA), Medicare Part B beneficiaries who need outpatient physical therapy would have direct access to physical therapist services as permitted by state law.
"Delaying treatment puts seniors and people with disabilities at risk by impeding their ability to achieve optimal functional outcomes," said APTA President R. Scott Ward, PT, PhD. "Removing this unnecessary and burdensome requirement will allow Medicare beneficiaries to receive high quality cost-effective physical therapy services in a timely manner."
Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia have eliminated the physician referral/certification of plan requirement for patients to access physical therapists for an evaluation, while 44 states and DC allow access to some form of physical therapy treatment without referral. This legislation would defer to the state law on access regarding physical therapy.
I can remember attending the June APTA conference in 2004 in Washington, DC, and covering the APTA's March on the Hill to lobby for Medicare direct access. Sen. Lincoln and Rep. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) were among the speakers that day, and I can remember their enthusiastic support of the proposed legislation and the excitement of the delegates chosen to visit their representatives in Congress.
At the time there didn't seem to be an overriding hope, however, that the legislation would actually get off the ground, due to what many feared was too high a cost to enact the law. Now with the outcry for sweeping changes to health care costs and management, direct access through Medicare is once again gaining traction.
Question is, will it find a way through this time?