The Medicare Orthotics and Prosthetics Patient-Centered Care Act was introduced in the United States Senate and referred to the Senate Committee on Finance last week. It is companion legislation to HR 1990, an identical bill introduced in the US House of Representatives in March. The National Association for the Advancement of Orthotics & Prosthetics (NAAOP) is asking members of the O&P profession to encourage their senators to cosponsor the bill.
The bill would accomplish four key priorities for the O&P profession:
·      Distinguish durable medical equipment (DME) from clinical O&P care
·      Limit the definition of off-the-shelf (OTS) orthotics to devices that truly require only minimal self-adjustment by the beneficiary only
·      Ban drop-shipping to patients of custom fitted and custom-fabricated orthoses and prostheses to ensure access to clinical care
·      Exempt licensed and certified O&P practitioners from OTS competitive bidding, treating them similarly to physicians and therapists by allowing them to provide OTS orthoses to their patients without a contract at the competitive bidding rate.
NAAOP’s action page allows senders to customize a message about how the bill impacts them and their colleagues to send to their senators.
To watch the webcast, in which Peter Thomas, JD, NAAOP’s general counsel, also encouraged stakeholders to contact their representatives in the House for similar cosponsorship, visit NAAOP’s webpage.
