President Obama signed H.R. 4691 into law this morning.  This bill suspends the 21.2% reduction in payments to providers that bill the Medicare physician fee schedule and re-instates the therapy cap exceptions process until March 31, 2010.  The therapy cap exceptions process extension is section 6 of the bill and was the only Medicare extender beyond the fee schedule update included in H.R. 4691.

APTA’s interpretation of the bill language is that it makes the exceptions process retroactive to January 1, 2010.  Once we receive further guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding the use of the KX modifier we will post it to www.apta.org <http://vocusgr.vocus.com/GRSpace2/Url.aspx?336x3377054x3264494> .  To view full text of the bill, click here <http://vocusgr.vocus.com/GRSpace2/Url.aspx?336x3377053x3264493> .

APTA will continue advocacy efforts to prevent the Medicare payment cut and extend the therapy cap exceptions process as this victory is very short-lived.

APTA has developed FAQ documents on the fee schedule <http://vocusgr.vocus.com/GRSpace2/Url.aspx?336x3377052x3264492> reductions and therapy cap <http://vocusgr.vocus.com/GRSpace2/Url.aspx?336x3377051x3264491> exceptions process that have been updated since this law was signed by the President.

Related Posts:

1. President Obama signs healthcare overhaul into law
2. Physical therapy patients face possible cuts in Medicare aid
3. Medicare Fee Schedule Fix Extended to May 31
4. APTA Legislative Alert!
5. A Physical Therapy – Medicare Parody