The National Association for the Advancement of Orthotics and Prosthetics (NAAOP) issued the following statement on healthcare reform:
The Massachusetts special election in mid-January brought an abrupt halt to healthcare reform negotiations just as Congressional Members and staff appeared to be nearing a final deal. Losing the 60th vote in the Senate means that Democrats no longer have a filibuster-proof majority and must, therefore, negotiate in a more bipartisan fashion.
The question now is how to proceed. Many complicating factors exist. First and foremost, the temporary reprieve for the Medicare physician fee schedule runs out at the end of February. If Congress does not extend the current freeze to the fee schedule by the end of the month, doctors and therapists paid under the fee schedule will receive a 21 percent cut in fees, an untenable situation. In addition, the Medicare outpatient therapy caps are currently in place for the first time in years. An exceptions process to the therapy caps was in place but expired at the end of 2009. Congress will have to act on this issue as well or will incur the wrath of Medicare beneficiaries losing access to rehabilitation therapies at the very time they need them most.
As recently as February 4, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) suggested that Congress may tack on an additional extension to the physician fee schedule and the therapy exceptions process until May, giving Congress extra time to consider their options on healthcare and Medicare reforms. These extensions in policy may be added to a bill being formulated to address unemployment as well as job development, but whether this strategy plays out is difficult to tell at this stage.
The larger healthcare reform package remains in legislative limbo. Since the Senate passed a comprehensive bill, the House could simply take that same bill to the House floor and, if they were to achieve a majority vote, send the bill to the President for his signature. However, many Democrats in the House find several Senate provisions unsupportable and have thus far failed to agree on a final strategy for passage of any healthcare or Medicare reforms, let alone a comprehensive bill. With the 2010 elections looming in November, the pressure on both sides of the healthcare debate will continue to build throughout the year.
The $3.55 trillion FY 2011 federal budget released by the Obama Administration on February 1 presumes that healthcare reform will be passed this year. It creates a $640 billion “reserve fund” offset by tax increases and Medicare reforms that would be used to expand health insurance coverage. To try to send a signal of fiscal restraint, the President’s budget also includes a three-year freeze on federal discretionary spending.
As is the case every year, however, the President’s budget proposal is just the first step in a lengthy budget process. Congress works on its own version of the budget and seeks to pass a non-binding budget resolution. The budget then serves as the outline for the appropriations bills, which fund the federal agencies. In short, it should be another active year for healthcare policy, and NAAOP will be there to advance the interests of O&P.
NAAOP will continue to keep its membership informed of developments as they occur. For more information, visit www.naaop.org or e-mail info@naaop.org
