The latest webcast from the National Association for the Advancement of Orthotics and Prosthetics (NAAOP) provides details of a busy June, which has set the stage for an active month of July, beginning with NAAOP’s annual Virtual Congressional Fly-In on Tuesday, July 18. Also planned for the month is a webinar on new Medicare Advantage rules on Thursday, July 27. Kate Ketelhohn, the NAAOP Breece Fellow for 2023, is coordinating advocacy efforts this summer.
A summary of developments includes:
Medicare O&P Patient-Centered Care Act (HR 4315)
Reps. Glenn Thompson (R-PA), Mike Thompson (D-CA), Brett Guthrie (R-KY), Angie Craig (D-MN), and Pete Sessions (R-TX) introduced bipartisan legislation on June 23 that addressed some of the most important issues facing the O&P profession. The bill would exempt certified and licensed orthotists and prosthetists from competitive bidding of off-the-shelf orthoses; ban drop shipping to patient’s homes of custom orthoses and prostheses in order to preserve access to clinical O&P care; and finally treat orthoses like prostheses for purposes of the useful lifetime requirement, allowing for replacements of orthoses due to a change in the patient’s condition.
Virtual Fly-In
NAAOP is hosting the event to promote the Medicare O&P Patient-Centered Care Act. NAAOP board members, select members, friends, and former Breece fellows will also participate to help build support for the bill, educate members of congress and their staff, and seek more cosponsors of the House legislation. NAAOP will also push for introduction of a Senate bill that is being prepared and will be introduced soon.
New Definition of Orthotic Devices
On June 29, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced a proposed regulation to codify in regulations the existing definition of orthoses, which is currently in guidance documents only. The proposed rule explicitly recognizes that power applied to an orthosis is covered by the Medicare program. The proposed rule also clarified that the MyoPro orthotic technology and the ReWalk exoskeleton are considered orthotic devices, not durable medical equipment or prosthetic devices. NAAOP says this is a favorable regulation even though some of the descriptions the regulation uses to describe orthoses are simplistic. Peter Thomas, JD, general counsel for NAAOP says in the webcast that NAAOP is “very pleased” about this new definition and will work with the O&P Alliance partners to submit comments within 60 days to refine the definition to allow more access to care.
Medicare Advantage Webinar
NAAOP will host a complimentary webinar on July 27 at 1 p.m. ET on new regulations that O&P practitioners can use to challenge denials of O&P care by Medicare Advantage plans. The interactive webinar will provide specific tools that practitioners and patients can use in their efforts to obtain O&P coverage and payment for their Medicare Advantage patients.
To contact your member of congress to encourage their support and cosponsorship of HR 4315, visit NAAOP’s Congressional Action Center.
Register for the Medicare Advantage webinar here.
To watch NAAOP’s latest update, visit its You Tube page.
