Medicare Legislation
Description
Collection
Title:
Medicare Legislation
Date:
12/22/2000
Text:
One aspect of the new Qualified Provider legislation that has not been
mentioned, much less recognized by the whiners out there, is that for several
years running, the President's proposed budget slashed O & P reimbursement.
AOPA was able to convince Congress to not go along with such slashes to the
Medicare O & P reimbursement rates by demonstrating the savings that this
legislation could bring by getting the bad players out of the Medicare O & P
business. The bill is not a protect your turf bill for all you whiners who
can't deal with competent competition. PT's, OT's, BOC are not going away.
You're gonna have to be better than they are. However, the department stores,
the OB/GYN's, the DME players, pharmacists, etc, who have been reimbursed by
HCFA, as shown by HCFA's own data, will go away. Fraud and abuse, upcoding, and
other deceitful practices by those who could not possibly provide custom O & P
will diminish, saving the government lots of Medicare dollars and thereby saving
all practices (even non-AOPA member practices) from the heavy handed cuts that
others have seen in past years (oxygen and other DME providers took a 40% cut a
few years back) and from the threat of future President's budget cuts.
Put your energy into OPLAN, O & P PAC, and the Policy Forum instead of
constantly criticizing efforts made on your behalf. When is the last time you
as a practitioner or business owner spoke personally with you Congress person?
Michael Schuch, CPO, FAAOP
Immediate Past-President, AOPA
mentioned, much less recognized by the whiners out there, is that for several
years running, the President's proposed budget slashed O & P reimbursement.
AOPA was able to convince Congress to not go along with such slashes to the
Medicare O & P reimbursement rates by demonstrating the savings that this
legislation could bring by getting the bad players out of the Medicare O & P
business. The bill is not a protect your turf bill for all you whiners who
can't deal with competent competition. PT's, OT's, BOC are not going away.
You're gonna have to be better than they are. However, the department stores,
the OB/GYN's, the DME players, pharmacists, etc, who have been reimbursed by
HCFA, as shown by HCFA's own data, will go away. Fraud and abuse, upcoding, and
other deceitful practices by those who could not possibly provide custom O & P
will diminish, saving the government lots of Medicare dollars and thereby saving
all practices (even non-AOPA member practices) from the heavy handed cuts that
others have seen in past years (oxygen and other DME providers took a 40% cut a
few years back) and from the threat of future President's budget cuts.
Put your energy into OPLAN, O & P PAC, and the Policy Forum instead of
constantly criticizing efforts made on your behalf. When is the last time you
as a practitioner or business owner spoke personally with you Congress person?
Michael Schuch, CPO, FAAOP
Immediate Past-President, AOPA
Citation
“Medicare Legislation,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 8, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/215508.
