Although Covid-19 cases are declining, the full extent of the pandemic’s long-term health impact is still in doubt, which means ensuring safe and effective treatments, helping patients recover from illness and injury, and managing any lingering health situation. Most people agree that professional nursing services are vital to the healthcare system, so why does Medicare insist on cutting medical professional funding again and again—including physical therapy?
In the ongoing pandemic, physical, occupational, and speech therapy providers are again facing severe cuts—this is what Medicare took when it finalized the reduction in Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) payments in 2022.
Every year, millions of Americans use physical therapy to recover from serious injuries and illnesses. Especially the elderly, benefit a lot from physical therapy. For example, after hospitalization, treatment services can help patients restore mobility and strength, restore balance and physical function, and enhance flexibility and range of motion.This is particularly effective in helping the elderly avoid falls, which can lead to Approximately 2.8 million emergency room visits, 800,000 hospitalizations and more than 27,000 deaths each yearPhysiotherapy can improve the health and quality of life of the elderly, while also ensuring that patients recover safely at home so that hospital staff and resources can continue to be used to treat Covid-19 and other urgently needed acute patients.
In addition, physical therapy represents a safe, non-pharmacological method of pain management. Overprescription of powerful opioid pain relievers has contributed to a surge in opioid use disorder (OUD) and overdose deaths. From January 2020 to January 2021, A record 94,000 Americans have died from a drug overdose——The rate is more than 30% higher than the previous 12-month period.According to a recent report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reportApproximately a quarter of Medicare Part D beneficiaries received opioids in 2020. Unfortunately, more than 43,000 beneficiaries took opioid overdose. By providing safe alternatives to opioids, physical therapy can help prevent older people from developing dangerous addictions and minimize the risk of painkillers being transferred from the medicine cabinet to the community.
Given the proven benefits of physical therapy, it makes sense to ensure that older people continue to receive professional care—especially if individuals continue to face Covid-19-related health issues. However, medical insurance takes the opposite approach.
Despite widespread opposition from bipartisan legislators and stakeholders across the health care sector, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) once again finalized deep and comprehensive payment cuts for physical, occupational, and speech therapy. CY2022’s final PFS rules include a plan to reduce suppliers by 3.75% starting on January 1, and the reduction will eventually be reduced by 9% by 2024. In addition, the rules are also finalized for assistants by physical and occupational therapy. These disturbing cuts are based on successive reductions in payments over the years, which are eroding the country’s foundation for providing treatment services.
Considering the cumulative impact, Medicare’s latest cuts will severely burden physical therapy practices, inject uncertainty into an already fragile healthcare system, and pose long-term challenges to the sustainability of providers. After all, it will be the patients who suffer the most. If clinics are forced to close, it will become increasingly difficult for seniors in the United States to obtain the treatment services they need to recover from injuries. Therefore, I am worried that more elderly people will fall or have accidents, putting more pressure on our healthcare system.
At the end of last year, Congress stepped up to pass bipartisan legislation to ease the cuts in health insurance, which was a welcome relief for physiotherapists like me. Once again, we need Congress to intervene to protect patients and providers and stop further cuts in professional care.
Photo: MikeyLPT, Getty Images
