It was the night before Christmas and all through the House (and Senate) members of Congress wanted to get home and so they did what Congress has been doing for the last 5 years (other than in 2010) and passed a stop-gap measure to prevent the reduction in the PFS of almost 28% and to extend the exception process until February 20th 2012. (Actually, it was not really the night before Christmas but almost.) Talk about déjà vue all over again. Both houses had already passed legislation to address the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), but needless to say the bills were at odds with one another. The house bill contains maintaining the exception process for 2 more years along with a 2 year “fix” to the SGR. THe Senate bill stops the SGR cut and extends the exception process but only for 2 months, essentially where we are now.

Meanwhile, on January 1st, therapists will see some change in the reimbursement rates as there are increases to some of the practice expense values that were included in the 2012 Final Rule.

It is important that all therapists that treat Medicare Part B patients get involved in lobbying for these changes proposed by the House. This can be done by calling or e-mailing your representatives asking them to support this house bill. You can also call the Capitol switchboard and ask for your legislator’s office. Another avenue is to inform your patient’s of what is happening, the risk to them of having their benefits drastically reduced and therapy treatment above the cap being their cost completely; (hospital outpatient departments coming under the cap in 2012).