American Physical Therapy Association | APTA



Template: Email Language on 9% Cut to Senators for Individuals Who Reside in Florida, Kentucky, Nebraska, Missouri(Please use this abbreviated language to contact your senator. The senators in the above states have a strict character limit, mandated by the senators’ offices, on email submissions and will not accept emails of a certain length. We’ve shortened the 9% cut email currently in the Patient Action Center to meet these strict requirements. Please copy the language below, into the “message body” field, replacing what is currently there (reference - subject: Stop Devasting Cuts to the Physical Therapy Profession) with this copy.)I am calling on your help to stop deep cuts to Medicare payment that are slated to take effect Jan. 1, 2021. The middle of a global pandemic is not the time to reduce payment to Medicare providers. Congress must act now to prevent further damage to the health care system that will result if these cuts in payment to physical therapists and other providers proceed. In the 2020 final Medicare Physician Fee Schedule rule, and again in the 2021 proposed rule, CMS included substantial reductions in payment to more than three dozen health care providers, effective January 1, 2021. The cuts were proposed in order to maintain budget neutrality while increasing payment for evaluation and management visit codes, also called E/M codes, that primary care and some specialty health professionals use to bill for their services. Physical therapy is slated for a 9% cut to Medicare Part B services. This cut, on top of the current economic crisis, is unsustainable for the patients we serve, and will cause PT providers to shutter their doors in the middle of a global pandemic. CMS is moving forward with this proposal, ignoring concerns expressed by patients, health care providers, and members of Congress. The only way to allow increased payment for primary care without implementing these deep cuts is for Congress to intervene. I urge you to work to include language that would waive budget neutrality for the E/M code policy scheduled for implementation on January 1, 2021 before Congress leaves Washington in October.Your constituents need physical therapy services, and these cuts are threatening the health outcomes of the people you serve. Now is not the time for payment cuts that will severely impact patient access to care and exacerbate the instability of health care providers' practices. Thank you for your consideration. ................
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