O&P legislation reintroduced in Senate
By HME News Staff
Updated 12:54 PM CDT, Mon August 2, 2021
WASHINGTON – Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., on July 29 reintroduced the Medicare Orthotics and Prosthetics Patient-Centered Care Act to improve access to care and combat fraud and abuse.
Companion legislation was reintroduced on March 18 in the House of Representatives.
“The American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association, whose over 2,000 members represent both the facilities that treat patients and the manufacturers of orthotic and prosthetic devices, has been advocating for years for Medicare to protect patients’ access to quality O&P clinical care,” said Eve Lee, AOPA executive director. “The bipartisan Medicare O&P Patient-Centered Care Act would do just this, differentiating O&P care from the provision of durable medical equipment supplies, while also protecting patients from fraudulent practices that are costly to the Medicare system.”
The legislation, S. 2556, would create separate statutory requirements for the provision of orthoses and prostheses to distinguish practitioners from DME suppliers.
The bill also seeks to: restore the term “minimal self-adjustment” to more clearly define off-the-shelf orthoses; and prohibit the practice of “drop shipping” custom orthoses and prostheses.
The bill is co-sponsored by Sens. Steve Daines, R-Mont., Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Bill Cassidy, R-La.
The current bills are identical to legislation introduced last year in the House (H.R. 5262) and in 2019 in the Senate (S. 4503).
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