The recent passage of healthcare legislation will provide health insurance to more than 30 million people who do not have it now. The new law would prevent insurers from refusing to cover people with pre-existing conditions and would also limit the amount a person would have to pay for his or her own care. This legislation will be hotly debated over the next several weeks, and will change the way healthcare facilities do business.
Much of the funding for the reform will come from reductions to Medicare and Medicaid programs which will undergo a major overhaul. Read more about the proposed changes and how they could affect the future of the rehab therapy profession in this article from Modern Healthcare.
Also soon to affect rehab therapy patients and therapists are the Medicare caps which will go into effect on January 1, 2010. These limits will be placed on outpatient rehabilitation services and will affect many older Americans who require extensive physical therapy to recover from stroke, injuries, fractures and more. Many rehab therapists feel that the failure to ensure these benefits for seniors is in sharp contrast to the healthcare reform package promising coverage for all Americans. Read more about the APTA’s response to the caps and other healthcare legislation on their website.
What do you think? How do you feel about the way this could affect your patients and your profession?