Re: US Politics/Harkin vs. Wexler and the Academy's p

Re: US Politics/Harkin vs. Wexler and the Academy's p

Mr. Bailey,

The Academy does not support the Harkin bill instead of the Wexler bill, at
this time. The Academy is supporting Mr. Barr and AOPA in their fight
against Medicare fraud and abuse. I think the Academy board would agree
that it is essential for Medicare and any other third party payors to limit
the provision of custom O&P services/product to qualified O&P
practitioners/facilities.

You must appreciate the abuse of L-code use extends way beyond the ABC
credentialed practitioner and even the BOC credentialed practitioner to
specialties that are not associated or related to O&P in the remotest way.
Thats the abuse that has to be corrected first, my opinion.

Please, for the second time, the Academy has not taken an official position
to legislative matters at this time. The Academy has an organizational
structure that includes Councils and Committees within those Councils. John
Billock, in his second term as president, reviewed and revised our structure.
One of the committees formed is the State and Federal Legislative Policy
Committee, which is part of the Professional Issues Council. The purpose of
this committee is to monitor State and Federal policies affecting the
delivery and quality of comprehensive O&P services provided by the Academy
membership to the general public.

The committee and its past and current Chairs have not brought forward
opinions of position for the Board to consider, neither has the Board
requested the committee to pursue the investigation of any opinion. This is
not to say that the Academy is blind or deaf to these pending issues.

I would like to thank you for your opinion on these bills and your urging of
the Academy to support Wexler and comment on your comparison of the two bills.
It is my understanding from ABC that there could be an issue of anti-trust if
legislation limited provision to O&P services only to ABC credentialed
practitioners.
An example of The Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare
Organizations ( JCAHO ) enjoying the Deemed Status in the Medicare
program.
If a hospital is JCAHO accredited, then it is deemed to meet the Medicare
Conditions of Participation criteria and can receive reimbursements from
Medicare Part A. However, hospitals that are not JCAHO accredited can still
apply to Medicare for Part A reimbursements by submitting to a survey by the
government proving that they meet the Conditions of Participation . So,
even on that high level of credential, there is a duel avenue to achieve
provider status.

Let me conclude, by relating a descriptive analysis of our present
situation in the reimbursement/fraud and abuse arena. ABC O&P and its
practitioners, if they were farmers, are having the corn in their barn eaten
by a hundred rats. We have an opportunity to kill 99 of them. I would
rather deal with one rat, regardless of its appetite, than to continually
chase a hundred.

Thank you so very much for sharing your thoughts and concerns with me, and
also for addressing Sen. Graham in your subsequent post.

Best regards,

Bill Schumann, CPO, President, American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists