[List] Two items from APTA

[office at ptidaho.org]

   Here's a couple of items from APTA that may be of interest.

   Jill Cooper, IPTA

   PTA URGES CONTACTING CONGRESS ON THERAPY CAP, FEE SCHEDULE
Physical therapists, physical therapist assistants and students are  
being encouraged to tell their members of Congress to repeal the  
Medicare therapy cap and prevent fee schedule cuts. APTA has issued an  
Action Alert  
(http://vocusgr.vocus.com/grspace2/WebPublish/Controller.aspx?SiteName=APTA&Definition=ViewIssue&IssueID=3419) for grassroots advocates, and the Association?s Legislative Action Center (http://vocusgr.vocus.com/grspace2/WebPublish/controller.aspx?SiteName=APTA&Definition=Home&XSL=Home&SV_Section=Home) provides resources, including a sample letter (http://vocusgr.vocus.com/grspace2/WebPublish/Controller.aspx?SiteName=APTA&Definition=ContactLegislators&IssueID=3419), for contacting Congress. In 2006, Congress allowed the therapy caps to go into effect, but authorized Medicare to allow exceptions for medically necessary coverage through 2007. HR 748/S 450 permanently repeals the cap, and more cosponsors are needed to continue building support for the legislation. Meanwhile, Congressional action is needed to block a proposed 9.9 % reduction in Medicare payments due to the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. Congress has stopped cuts over the past 5 years. Congress will be debating Medicare legislation over the next 2 weeks, so now is the time to contact members to repeal the cap and prevent fee schedule  
cuts.

    JULY 31 APPLICATION DEADLINE FOR SPECIALIST CERTIFICATION EXAMS
In 2007, an additional 828 physical therapists achieved  
board-certification by the American Board of Physical Therapy  
Specialties (ABPTS). To date, 7,573 of your colleagues have achieved  
this professional distinction. Physical therapists with at least 2,000  
hours of direct patient care in one of seven specialty areas  
(Cardiovascular and Pulmonary, Clinical Electrophysiologic,  
Geriatrics, Neurologic, Orthopaedics, Pediatrics, and Sports) may be  
eligible for certification by ABPTS. Information on additional minimum  
eligibility requirements and the application booklet can be downloaded  
from the Specialist Certification Web page at  
http://www.apta.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Exams&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=203&ContentID=22444. Please remind your members that applications for the 2008 specialist certification examinations must be postmarked by July 31. The examinations will be administered at Prometric Testing Centers from February 23 to March 8, 2008. Please contact the Specialist Certification Department at ext 8520 or at spec-cert at apta.org if you have any questions or would like additional  
information.

    
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.ptidaho.org/pipermail/list/attachments/20070723/c7d2ec56/attachment.html