Please view our video webcast and update:
In the wake of the O&P Policy Forum in Washington, DC, organized by AOPA, we
ask all NAAOP members and friends to write to their Congressman and/or
Senators to seek cosponsors for two important pieces of O&P legislation.
Both bills have been introduced in previous Congresses but remain priorities
for the O&P profession. We need to build cosponsors of these bills to get
them moving through Congress. Here’s how you can help.
1. Go to the NAAOP website at
http://naaop.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=96535cf0d3d25745f7dbe8140&id
=20f94f17ae&e=152f1ed583 and click on the Congressional Action Center. This
will take you to two template letters, one for each bill.
2. Follow directions within the site to send electronic versions of a letter
to your Congressman on the first bill below and your two Senators and
Representative on the second bill below. Modify the template letters to
your liking and send them electronically to Capitol Hill asking them to
cosponsor these bills.
3. If you are able, please call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-225-3121 and
ask them for your Congressman’s or Senator’s office. Ask to speak with the
health legislative assistant and leave a message that you just sent them an
email on important legislation and hope they will consider cosponsoring the
bill(s).
• Injured and Amputee Veterans Bill of Rights (H.R. 2322): This legislation
is spearheaded by NAAOP and was recently introduced by Congressman Tim
Walberg (R-MI). The VA Bill of Rights seeks to educate veterans of their
rights to help them to become their own best advocate on their VA prosthetic
care. This bill requires the VA to post a list of rights in every O&P
clinic across the country as well as the VA website and include the right to
obtain appropriate prosthetic technology, access the practitioner of the
veterans’ choice, and to obtain a second opinion if the veteran disagrees
with the VA prescribed treatment plan. All of these rights are consistent
with the VHA Handbook and Congressional testimony presented by VA officials
in recent years and should not cost the VA more than they currently spend on
O&P services.
• Medicare O&P Improvement Act (S. 1191 and H.R. 2599): The Medicare O&P
Improvement Act includes important legislative proposals that would:
o Recognize that the prosthetist’s/orthotist’s notes are considered part
of the medical record
o Separates DME from O&P in federal regulations
o Directs CMS to fully implement Medicare law requiring O&P
qualifications in order to be reimbursed by the program for custom O&P care
o Clarifies “off-the-shelf” orthotics to restore Congressional intent,
and
o Mandates that HHS refine its data on O&P audits and appeals to better
track reversal rates and other important information throughout the appeals
process.
Thank you for your efforts for the O&P profession and the patients we serve!
Please visit our website at: www.naaop.org
NAAOP
1501 M Street, NW
7th Floor
Washington, DC 20005-1700
e-mail: [email protected]
(800) 622-6740
(202) 624-0064 Phone
(202) 785-1756 Fax
www.naaop.org
