Healthcare reform wrinkle affects Medicare therapy caps exceptions process
The potential collapse of healthcare reform could further stall the restoration of the therapy caps exceptions process for long-term care providers. Both the House and Senate bills would extend the process, which expired at the end of 2009.Healthcare reform is in jeopardy after Republican Scott Brown beat Democrat Martha Coakley in the Massachusetts Senate race this week. That hurts Democrats' chances of passing a bill. As of Jan. 1, there is a limit of $1,860 for combined physical and speech pathology therapy, and $1,860 for occupational therapy in 2010.
Earlier this year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in an article written for the agency's Medicare Learning Network urged some providers to hold back on submitting Medicare Part B therapy claims "until it becomes clearer as to whether new legislation will be enacted to extend these provisions."
