Letters to the Editor is a routine function. We invite all remarks and will release a choice. We modify for length and clearness and need complete names.
Occupational Therapists Change Lives. CMS Must Better Support Them.
Physical therapists are vital in assisting clients adapt to brand-new situations, empowering them with the tools they require to conquer barriers and restore control over their lives. Whether you’re transitioning from homelessness into a home (“In Los Angeles, Occupational Therapists Tapped to Help Homeless Stay Housed,” Jan. 24) or relearning how to do daily jobs following a stroke, OTs are essential to clients’ care strategy.
The important care offered by OTs is being threatened by another year of payment cuts enforced by Medicare, our country’s health care program for individuals age 65 and up. Numerous older clients dealt with by OTs gain access to insurance protection through Medicare, which normally repays service providers at a lower rate than personal insurance providers. And now, with payment cuts that entered into impact on Jan. 1– in spite of cautions and reaction from legislators, clients, and suppliers– OTs are having a hard time to provide care with lower Medicare payment.
Buying occupational treatment enhances health results for clients, has the prospective to lower the problem on health centers and other healthcare clinicians, and keeps people healthy and independent. Medicare’s payment cuts just jeopardize the capability of suppliers to provide extensive, caring care. Medicare should acknowledge the long-lasting client advantages occupational treatment needs to provide.
Fortunately, Congress is thinking about a costs that would reverse these damaging payment cuts. The Preserving Seniors’ Access to Physicians Act of 2023 (HR 6683), would reverse the cuts that entered into result on Jan. 1, easing monetary tension for physical therapists and protecting client gain access to. I highly advise legislators to focus on and safeguard occupational treatment services and right away pass HR 6683 for America’s Medicare clients.
— Doug Fosco, a physical therapist practicing at Two Trees Physical Therapy in Ventura, California
An assistant teacher at Ontario’s Western University weighed in on X.
— Carrie Anne Marshall, Sydenham, Ontario
Congress Must Finish the Job on Site-Neutral Payments
There’s an apparent option to check federal government costs and client out-of-pocket expenses: Pay similar costs for similar care (“In Fight Over Medicare Payments, the Hospital Lobby Shows Its Strength,” Feb. 13).
As a neighborhood oncologist, it is clear to me how Medicare prefers healthcare facilities by paying more for services offered in healthcare facility outpatient departments (HOPDs) than the exact same care provided in community-based centers. Last year, Medicare paid over 2.5 times as much in an HOPD as in a free-standing workplace for drug administration services. It’s not simply Medicare paying excessive; clients likewise deal with greater out-of-pocket expenses for care offered in HOPDs. If the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act is signed into law, cancer clients would right away pay less for treatments like chemotherapy.
One unexpected effect of present payment variations is debt consolidation.
