Advocacy Makes a Difference!!! Please join us in asking members of congress to cosponsor the Empower Act and support PTAs.

Medicare permits general supervision of physical therapist assistants by physical therapists in all settings — except for outpatient private practice under Part B, which requires direct supervision. Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants are governed by their state's practice act and must follow their state licensure requirements if they are more stringent than Medicare’s. However, 49 states permit "general supervision" of physical therapist assistants in outpatient practices, making Medicare’s direct supervision requirement in that setting more burdensome than most state licensure requirements.

Please use the link below to add your voice by connecting to your congressional representatives and asking for their support. The link below will take you to the APTA Patient Action Center. Thank you in advance for taking action to further our profession and support PTAs.

https://www.apta.org/advocacy/take-action/patient-action-center

Contact APTA NH Board Member, Tracie Adams

APTA's report on the

Economic Value of Physical Therapy in the U.S.

The NH state legislature is in session and actively working through hundreds of proposed bills. APTA NH has been closely following many of these bills and at this point in the session were are down to following about 20 bills.

This month, we would like to highlight one bill in particular that could have a potentially significant impact on physical therapy practice in NH.

HB1676-FN: Establishing a Sunset Commission to Evaluate Various Occupational Boards and Commissions, and Sunsetting Various Boards and Commissions. In its current form, this bill could convey the legislative authority to “sunset” a significant number of professional boards, including the Physical Therapy Governing Board in 2030.

The protection of our patients is paramount. This bill could alter the ability for therapists to practice critical self-governed oversight. There is no entity better positioned to oversee the appropriate application of the education, training and conduct of physical therapists and physical therapist assistants in the State of NH than a board of our peers, the Physical Therapy Governing Board.

Shortly, APTA NH will be asking for you to join us in opposing this bill through communication and outreach to your NH representatives. If you haven’t already, this is a great time to download the APTA Action App that will afford access and information related to important issues affecting the physical therapy profession in our state.

Finally, pertaining to the recent correspondence from OPLC that updated the regulations surrounding continuing competence as part of license renewal, we are working with contacts at the state to determine a definitive answer regarding the acceptance of distance/online courses.

For more information on this and other pending bills, go to www.nh.gov , put your cursor over the “Government” tab at the top of the webpage and click on NH State Legislature from the dropdown list. You can enter bill numbers like the one above or do a keyword search for bills to access more information. Please feel free to reach out to us at www.nhapta.org for more information or to get involved. 

State Legislative APTA NH CONTACT: Mark Mailloux

Status of the 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule

 Regulatory Review | Prior Authorization Win: CMS Finalizes Tighter Payer Rules | APTA

Articles of Interest:

 2023 Year in Review | APTA

News | 2024 Fee Schedule Calculator Now Available to APTA Members | APTA

Perspective | A Closer Look at the New Medicare Advantage Rule: Coverage Criteria and Prior Authorization | APTA



Contact our Federal Affairs Liaison, Amanda Packard