US-POLITICS *** sorry in advance... I know this will piss some people off **
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US-POLITICS *** sorry in advance... I know this will piss some people off **
Text:
Sorry Mr Gingras, I know you posted this to a limited number of people, but I
feel that is important for ALL legitamite O and P practitioners to read/have
access to your letter. I am taking the personal liberty of posting this on
the O&P listserver I hope you understand my point in doing so.
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Dear Academy Board, Chapter Presidents and Members
I am writing you at the request of the members of the Florida Chapter of the
Academy as ordered by them in a formal motion with unanimous consent. This
motion was formulated during our annual Chapter meeting in Hutchinson Island,
FL. Saturday September 25,1999.
The issues that most concerned our members and that they wished to convey
to you, center around the reluctance of the Academy board of directors to
represent the interest of its members on issues that will have a direct
impact on patient care, its members and the profession as a whole.
The most recent issue that stimulated discussion concerns the Harkin Bill VS
the Wexler Bill. If you haven't heard of them you are not alone. The Academy
didn't notify its members regarding either bill, yet if either of these bills
is passed they will determine who is qualified to provide comprehensive
Orthotic and Prosthetic care to Medicare patients in the U.S. While the
intent of both of these bills is to reduce fraud and abuse by limiting
payment of Medicare funds to qualified providers, only the Wexler Bill,
identifies and names CAAHEP standards of education, our standards, the only
educational standards recognized by the AMA to determine the competency of
practitioners in the provision of custom orthotic and prosthetic devices.
The Harkin Bill, which is supported heavily by AOPA, name ABC certification
as its standard yet it remains silent on the specific educational standards
of whom, would be deemed qualified. Additionally, the bill has language that
specifically leaves the determination of who is competent to the Secretary.
Language in this bill also excludes HALO and SCOLIOSIS orthotic management
from the areas covered by the bill.
The Florida Chapter of the Academy has several concerns regarding the Harkin
Bill. As you probably are aware, the practitioners in the state of Florida
and in at least five other states have been actively involved in their
respective state governments in the arena of professional regulation. In
advocacy of our citizens with disabilities our chapter members have spent
considerable time and hundreds of thousands of dollars to pass state
licensing acts based on high educational standards (CAAHEP Standards) and
strict, but fair, grandfathering requirements to protect the public from
unqualified practitioners.
We feel that the Harkin Bill could ultimately undermine our efforts on the
state level by possibly creating another federal level of qualified
providers. This new level of federally recognized practitioners could set a
national precedence and put the states that have higher standards at risk.
The Secretary could recognize other certifications such as BOC, NARD or
professions such as Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Athletic
Trainers and other related health care professions, as qualified to provide
this level of care. If the secretary recognizes various certifications such
as the BOC certification as qualified, with no college level O and P training
as an educational baseline, then how can the secretary then say no to
Physical
Therapists or others with college level allied health degrees? What this bill
threatens to do is to lower the decision of policy making to politics rather
than basing it upon defined educational standards as set by CAAHEP .
One only has to look at the decision made by the VA to accept BOC as equals
to Practitioners with CAAHEP educational standards or CARF acceptance of BOC
Orthotists as equivalents to practitioners with education based upon CAAHEP
standards to realize that leaving such decisions to government bureaucrats
will lead to outrageous outcomes and poor healthcare policies for persons
with disabilities. We believe that the Harkin Bill without specific language
(CAAHEP) regarding educational requirements will lead to the unraveling of
state licensure and high standards of care.
We in Florida can understand why AOPA would be interested in seeing this
bill pass as is. However, we cannot understand, and one has to wonder why or
how, the Academy leadership could silently stand by and let this bill pass
without even discussing it with its members, whom it so adversely affects.
Not to mention the apparent perception regarding a lack of concern for the
level of care to persons with disabilities in our country should this bill
pass without high standards of education.
The questions being asked by our membership now center around whom represents
the Academy member? AOPA represents the business owners and suppliers of the
industry. ABC processes our certification, and the Academy, whose members
include only those who support CAAHEP educational requirements, has been
silent on this issue which is so important to its members and the quality of
orthotic and prosthetic health care in this country. One has to wonder if the
silence by the Academy Board is because the Academy bylaws or mission
statement does not empower our leaders to protect our interests or is this a
submission to the political wishes of our sister organization thereby,
relegating its responsibility to them?
In this post consolidation failure period, we your academy members in
Florida, urge the Academy board to start fresh, to revisit and revise our
mission statements and bylaws to more clearly reflect the interests of its
members and the persons that we serve and to speak out for them .We urge the
Academy board to immediately distribute the two bills, a copy of this letter
and their position regarding these bills to all members, so that we can fully
judge the validity of both bills. Meanwhile the motion reads we The Florida
Chapter endorses the inclusion of the specific educational standards (CAAHEP)
as proposed in the Wexler Bill HR 1938 to be included in the Harkin bill and
for the Academy board to educate its members on this issue and on all issues
affecting Academy members. Please send this message to the Academy Board of
Directors, Chapter Presidents and Members of the Academy.
We await your response.
Sincerely,
Ron Gingras LPO, CPO
President, Florida Chapter American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists
feel that is important for ALL legitamite O and P practitioners to read/have
access to your letter. I am taking the personal liberty of posting this on
the O&P listserver I hope you understand my point in doing so.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------
Dear Academy Board, Chapter Presidents and Members
I am writing you at the request of the members of the Florida Chapter of the
Academy as ordered by them in a formal motion with unanimous consent. This
motion was formulated during our annual Chapter meeting in Hutchinson Island,
FL. Saturday September 25,1999.
The issues that most concerned our members and that they wished to convey
to you, center around the reluctance of the Academy board of directors to
represent the interest of its members on issues that will have a direct
impact on patient care, its members and the profession as a whole.
The most recent issue that stimulated discussion concerns the Harkin Bill VS
the Wexler Bill. If you haven't heard of them you are not alone. The Academy
didn't notify its members regarding either bill, yet if either of these bills
is passed they will determine who is qualified to provide comprehensive
Orthotic and Prosthetic care to Medicare patients in the U.S. While the
intent of both of these bills is to reduce fraud and abuse by limiting
payment of Medicare funds to qualified providers, only the Wexler Bill,
identifies and names CAAHEP standards of education, our standards, the only
educational standards recognized by the AMA to determine the competency of
practitioners in the provision of custom orthotic and prosthetic devices.
The Harkin Bill, which is supported heavily by AOPA, name ABC certification
as its standard yet it remains silent on the specific educational standards
of whom, would be deemed qualified. Additionally, the bill has language that
specifically leaves the determination of who is competent to the Secretary.
Language in this bill also excludes HALO and SCOLIOSIS orthotic management
from the areas covered by the bill.
The Florida Chapter of the Academy has several concerns regarding the Harkin
Bill. As you probably are aware, the practitioners in the state of Florida
and in at least five other states have been actively involved in their
respective state governments in the arena of professional regulation. In
advocacy of our citizens with disabilities our chapter members have spent
considerable time and hundreds of thousands of dollars to pass state
licensing acts based on high educational standards (CAAHEP Standards) and
strict, but fair, grandfathering requirements to protect the public from
unqualified practitioners.
We feel that the Harkin Bill could ultimately undermine our efforts on the
state level by possibly creating another federal level of qualified
providers. This new level of federally recognized practitioners could set a
national precedence and put the states that have higher standards at risk.
The Secretary could recognize other certifications such as BOC, NARD or
professions such as Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Athletic
Trainers and other related health care professions, as qualified to provide
this level of care. If the secretary recognizes various certifications such
as the BOC certification as qualified, with no college level O and P training
as an educational baseline, then how can the secretary then say no to
Physical
Therapists or others with college level allied health degrees? What this bill
threatens to do is to lower the decision of policy making to politics rather
than basing it upon defined educational standards as set by CAAHEP .
One only has to look at the decision made by the VA to accept BOC as equals
to Practitioners with CAAHEP educational standards or CARF acceptance of BOC
Orthotists as equivalents to practitioners with education based upon CAAHEP
standards to realize that leaving such decisions to government bureaucrats
will lead to outrageous outcomes and poor healthcare policies for persons
with disabilities. We believe that the Harkin Bill without specific language
(CAAHEP) regarding educational requirements will lead to the unraveling of
state licensure and high standards of care.
We in Florida can understand why AOPA would be interested in seeing this
bill pass as is. However, we cannot understand, and one has to wonder why or
how, the Academy leadership could silently stand by and let this bill pass
without even discussing it with its members, whom it so adversely affects.
Not to mention the apparent perception regarding a lack of concern for the
level of care to persons with disabilities in our country should this bill
pass without high standards of education.
The questions being asked by our membership now center around whom represents
the Academy member? AOPA represents the business owners and suppliers of the
industry. ABC processes our certification, and the Academy, whose members
include only those who support CAAHEP educational requirements, has been
silent on this issue which is so important to its members and the quality of
orthotic and prosthetic health care in this country. One has to wonder if the
silence by the Academy Board is because the Academy bylaws or mission
statement does not empower our leaders to protect our interests or is this a
submission to the political wishes of our sister organization thereby,
relegating its responsibility to them?
In this post consolidation failure period, we your academy members in
Florida, urge the Academy board to start fresh, to revisit and revise our
mission statements and bylaws to more clearly reflect the interests of its
members and the persons that we serve and to speak out for them .We urge the
Academy board to immediately distribute the two bills, a copy of this letter
and their position regarding these bills to all members, so that we can fully
judge the validity of both bills. Meanwhile the motion reads we The Florida
Chapter endorses the inclusion of the specific educational standards (CAAHEP)
as proposed in the Wexler Bill HR 1938 to be included in the Harkin bill and
for the Academy board to educate its members on this issue and on all issues
affecting Academy members. Please send this message to the Academy Board of
Directors, Chapter Presidents and Members of the Academy.
We await your response.
Sincerely,
Ron Gingras LPO, CPO
President, Florida Chapter American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists
Citation
“US-POLITICS *** sorry in advance... I know this will piss some people off **,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 5, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/213072.
