Washington, D.C. — Today, Congresswoman Ross introduced the Removing Excessive Cuts to Outpatient and Vital Essential Rehabilitation (RECOVER) Act to restore fair payment for therapy services under Medicare. This legislation would repeal a flawed policy that has increased costs and arbitrarily slashed reimbursement for certain providers since 2013.
Today, when patients have treatment for multiple therapy services on the same day, (e.g. after a stroke, one may need physical therapy and speech therapy), only the first service is fully reimbursed by Medicare. These unsustainable payment levels threaten the viability of therapy practices and limit patient access to medically necessary care.
“Clinicians in North Carolina and nationwide shouldn’t be penalized for trying to provide comprehensive therapy treatment to seniors in need,” said Congresswoman Ross. “For over a decade, this outdated rule has stood in the way of treating patients with the most effective forms of rehabilitation. Our therapy providers deserve payment rates that reflect the true value of their care. Congress is overdue to repeal this rule and ensure seniors get access to high-quality rehabilitation services.”
This legislation is endorsed by ADVION, Alliance for Physical Therapy Quality and Innovation, American Health Care Association/National Center for Assisted Living, American Occupational Therapy Association, American Physical Therapy Association, American Speech-Hearing-Language Association, APTA Private Practice, Athletico, National Association of Rehabilitation Providers and Agencies, and Select Medical.
“The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association applauds Rep. Deborah Ross for introducing this critical legislation to eliminate Multiple Procedure Payment Reduction for Medicare therapy services. Repealing this outdated policy will improve Medicare beneficiaries’ access to essential care—and will ensure that speech-language pathologists are not penalized for providing this care to patients who also require services from other therapy professionals,” said 2026 ASHA President Linda I. Rosa-Lugo, EdD, CCC-SLP, ASHA Fellow.
“Medicare beneficiaries deserve access to timely, coordinated rehabilitation care without payment policies that create unnecessary obstacles,” said American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) President Kyle Covington, PT, DPT, PhD. “MPPR undermines coordinated care and does not reflect clinical realities. The RECOVER Act gives Congress a clear opportunity to correct this outdated policy and put patients first. Thank you to Representative Ross for her leadership on this issue.”
Bill text is available here.
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