Many of your readers may be unaware that a hard cap on all Medicare beneficiary's physical therapy care went into place Jan. 1.
I am referring to the financial limit on the amount of therapy care that Medicare will cover in a calendar year, often referred to as the Medicare "therapy cap." Currently, there is an $1,860 per patient, per year therapy cap. In years past, there has been an "exception" to the therapy cap for patients in dire need of therapy care.
Starting on New Year's Day every beneficiary, regardless of their condition or medical history, is limited to $1,860 of physical therapist or speech language pathologist services and up to $1,860 for occupational therapist services. Any Medicare patient who is coping with a chronic condition or recovering from a stroke or debilitating illness knows that $1,860 is hopelessly inadequate to cover the extensive physical therapy those situations require. Any Medicare beneficiary who is worried about having more than one injury or illness that requires therapy care during the year will face having to "ration" his or her limited benefits to avoid having to pay out-of-pocket or going to a hospital outpatient department if they need additional care.
Congress can do something to protect beneficiaries from losing their Medicare coverage - they can pass legislation this year (H.R. 43/S. 46) that repeals this arbitrary, ill-conceived policy once and for all.
Congress needs to take action as soon as possible, as some patients are on the verge of meeting their $1860 cap already. I urge everyone who has a family member on Medicare or who is relying on Medicare coverage themselves to contact our members of Congress immediately and demand that they take action immediately to repeal the Medicare "therapy cap" once and for all.
