Take Action: Support Your Colleagues on Capitol Hill This Week
On Thursday, June 9, approximately 1,000 physical therapists, physical therapist assistants and students of physical therapy will visit the Capitol Hill offices of their U.S. Representatives and Senators as part of this year’s PT Day on Capitol Hill. These physical therapy advocates will lobby Congress on cosponsoring legislation to repeal the cap (H.R. 1546/S. 829), adding physical therapists to the National Health Service Corps loan repayment program (H.R. 1426/S. 975), Protecting Student Athletes from Concussions Act (H.R. 469), and other issues.
Even if you can’t be in Washington, you can help!
Please e-mail your Members of Congress this week to support your colleagues and to increase the voice PT will have on Capitol Hill. APTA’s goal is to generate more than 10,000 emails.
Contact Your Members of Congress
E-mail: APTA members can utilize the Legislative Action Center to contact their members of Congress on the issues below.
Talking Points
Repeal of the Therapy Cap: Request your Members’ cosponsorship of the Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act (H.R. 1546/S. 829) to ensure access to outpatient rehabilitation services for the most vulnerable Medicare beneficiaries. This legislation repeals a provision from the Balanced Budget Act (BBA) that set an arbitrary annual financial limitation on Medicare beneficiaries’ rehabilitation services. The current therapy cap exceptions process will end on December 31, 2011.
Adding PTs to the National Health Service Corps Program: Request your Members of Congress to cosponsor the The Physical Therapist Student Loan Repayment Eligibility Act (H.R. 1426/S. 975), legislation that would provide for physical therapists’ participation in the National Health Service Corp’s Loan Repayment Program. This initiative encourages physical therapists to serve in rural and urban underserved communities and helps to address the rising debt load of physical therapists who might otherwise not be able to practice in an underserved community. This is particularly important given the growing demand for the services of physical therapists.
Passage of the Protecting Student Athletes from Concussions Act of 2011: The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) strongly supports the Protecting Student Athletes from Concussions Act of 2011(H.R. 469), legislation that would allow for the development of concussion management guidelines that address the prevention, identification, treatment, and management of concussions in school-aged children. Legislative and policy efforts at the state and local level on concussion management have been highly inconsistent. This inconsistency can be a detriment to the quality of care and considerations necessary for the complexity of concussion injuries within active student athletes.
Additional information on these issues can be accessed on APTA’s website. Thank you for your continued efforts to improve physical therapy and the patients that physical therapists and physical therapist assistants serve.
If you would like to inform others about advocating this week, encourage them to email their members of Congress through APTA’s Legislative Action Center by visiting http://www.apta.org/TakeAction!
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American Physical Therapy Association
Consistent with the American Physical Therapy Association Vision Statement for Physical Therapy 2020, the American Physical Therapy Association supports exclusive physical therapist ownership and operation of physical therapy services.
PT is not included in the new healthcare law. repealing the cap wont make any difference if our profession becomes a non-entity.
ReplyDeletePhysical therapists don't need government revenues to treat patients and make a difference to society.
ReplyDeleteLots of "9-to-5'ers" will go looking for work but many physical therapists will roll up their sleeves and find ways to make their services valuable and available to patients.