Bill would repeal Medicare cap on outpatient therapy

Bills aimed at repealing the cap on outpatient therapy services under Medicare are alive again in the House and Senate.

A moratorium on the annual cap on occupational, physical and speech therapy services is set to expire at the end of this year. At that time, a Balanced Budget Act provision would impose an annual limit of about $1,700 per beneficiary on the services. Providers warn that enforcing the cap would be disastrous for some residents’ care and damage the therapy services community. The caps have been actively enforced twice but only for short periods before moratoriums were set back in place.

Sponsors of a new bill, which was introduced last week, include Sens. John Ensign (R-NV) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR); and Reps. Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Phil English (R-PA).