Advocacy in Action: APTQI Goes to Capitol Hill

At APTQI, we are committed to educating lawmakers on physical therapy’s role in the healthcare delivery system. Our engagement with Congress helps advance innovative policy solutions to stabilize payments, reduce regulatory burden, and improve access to community-based physical therapy services.

Last week, APTQI Executive Director Nikesh Patel, PT furthered that mission by joining the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) for a series of meetings on Capitol Hill.

In these meetings, with both lawmakers and their staff, Nikesh advocated for two issues that are critical to the physical therapy profession: the need to stop Medicare cuts to our services and the importance of recognizing the role of PT when it comes to senior falls.

Learn more about each of these issues:

Medicare Cuts

On the heels of a series of payment reductions in recent years, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has once again proposed deep, across-the-board payment cuts to physical, occupational, and speech therapy in the Physician Fee Schedule Rule for CY2024.

The proposed rule includes a cut of at least 3.36% to providers in 2024, and the highly technical formula CMS uses to determine reimbursement suggests the cuts could be even higher – as high as over 4% – in certain geographic locations.

To ensure that timely access to specialty services for Medicare patients is preserved, Congress must intervene to prevent these cuts from going into effect in 2024.

Learn more in a recent statement from APTQI.

Senior Falls

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 30 million elderly Americans fall every year. Physical therapy is a powerful tool for helping seniors avoid these falls, reduce pain, and improve their overall wellbeing and quality of life.

A new report developed by The Moran Company, an HMA Company, confirmed the value of PT in combatting the epidemic of senior falls. The report found that increased physical therapy utilization by Medicare beneficiaries prone to falls could measurably reduce total healthcare spending, cause a 50% reduction in hospitalizations, and a 39% reduction in opioid use.

Learn more about the findings of this report.

By educating Congress about the benefits of physical therapy – and the challenges facing our industry – APTQI is helping to shape healthcare policy for the benefit of all our members.